3  n  .JRewory  (Jj)f 
Hjames  JVglfaarit 


WASHINGTON  IRVING 


LIFE  OF 
COLUMBUS 

VOLUME  I 

By  Washington  Irving 


BOSTON  COLLEGE  LIBRARY 

CHESTNUT  HILL,  MASS. 


R.  F.  FENNO  &  COMPANY  :  PUB¬ 
LISHERS  :  9  &  n  E.  SIXTEENTH 
STREET  :  NEW  YORK  CITY  :  1900 


E\U. 

I8K* 

|^(0D 


16162 


i 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Prepack . . .  9 

BOOK  I. 

CHAP. 

I.  Birth*  Parentage,  and  Early  Life  of  Columbus .  ....  IT 

II.  Early  Voyages  of  Columbus  .  20 

III.  Progress  of  Discovery  under  Prince  Henry  of  Portugal .  24 

IV.  Residence  of  Columbus  at  Lisbon— Ideas  concerning  Islands  in  the  Ocean  29 

V.  Grounds  on  which  Columbus  founded  his  Belief  of  the  existence  of  Un¬ 
discovered  Lands  in  the  West .  34 

VI.  Correspondence  of  Columbus  with  Paulo  Tosoanelli— Events  in  Portugal 

relative  to  Discoveries— Proposition  of  Columbus  to  the  Portuguese 
Court— Departure  from  Portugal .  40 

BOOK  II. 

I.  Proceedings  of  Columbus  after  leaving  Portugal— His  Applications  in 

Spain — Characters  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella .  52 

n.  Columbus  at  the  Court  of  Spain  .  57 

III.  Columbus  before  the  Council  of  Salamanca .  60 

IV.  Further  Applications  at  the  Court  of  Castile — Columbus  follows  the  Court 

in  its  Campaigns  .  66 

V.  Columbus  at  the  Convent  of  La  Rabida  .  72 

VI.  Application  to  the  Court  at  the  time  of  the  Surrender  of  Granada .  76 

VII.  Arrangement  with  the  Spanish  Sovereigns— Preparations  for  the  Expedi¬ 

tion  at  the  Port  of  Palos . . . . .  81 

VIII.  Columbus  at  the  Port  of  Palos— Preparations  for  the  Voyage  of  Discovery  84 

BOOK  III. 

I.  Departure  of  Columbus  on  his  First  Voyage .  89 

II.  Continuation  of  the  Voyage— First  Notice  of  the  Variation  of  the  Needle  93 

III.  Continuation  of  the  Voyage— Various  Terrors  of  the  Seamen .  96 

IV.  Continuation  of  the  Voyage— Discovery  of  Land .  101 

BOOK  IY. 

I.  First  Landing  of  Columbus  in  the  New  World . 109 

II.  Cruise  among  the  Bahama  Islands . 115 

III.  Discovery  and  Coasting  of  Cuba .  121 

IV.  Further  Coasting  of  Cuba . 137 


4 


CONTENTS. 


CHAP,  PAGE 

V.  Search  after  the  supposed  Island  of  Babeque— Desertion  of  the  Pinta .  132 

VI.  Discovery  of  Hispaniola .  135 

VII.  Coasting  of  Hispaniola . 142 

VHI.  Shipwreck . .  146 

•  IX.  Transactions  with  the  Natives .  148 

X.  Building  of  the  Fortress  of  La  Navidad . .  153 

XI.  Regulation  of  the  Fcrtress  of  La  Navidad — Departure  of  Columbus  for 

Spain .  156 

BOOK  V. 

I.  Coasting  towards  the  Eastern  End  of  Hispaniola — Meeting  with  Pinzon— 

Affair  with  the  Natives  at  the  Gulf  of  Samana .  160 

IT.  Return  Voyage— Violent  Storms— Arrival  at  the  Azores .  166 

III.  Transactions  at  the  Island  of  St.  Mary’s .  171 

IV.  Arrival  at  Portugal— Visit  to  the  Court .  174 

V.  Reception  of  Columbus  at  Palos .  180 

VI.  Reception  of  Columbus  by  the  Spanish  Court  at  Barcelona . 184 

FII.  Sojourn  of  Columbus  at  Barcelona— Attentions  paid  him  by  the  Sovereigns 

and  Courtiers .  188 

fill.  Papal  Bull  of  Partition— Preparations  for  a  Second  Voyage  of  Columbus..  192 

IX.  Diplomatic  Negotiations  between  the  Courts  of  Spain  and  Portugal  with 

respect  to  the  New  Discoveries .  .  199 

X.  Further  Preparations  for  the  Second  Voyage— Character  of  Alonzo  de 

Ojeda— Difference  of  Columbus  with  Soria  and  Ponseca .  202 

BOOK  VI. 

I.  Departure  of  Columbus  on  his  Second  Voyage— Discovery  of  the  Caribbee 

Islands . 209 

n.  Transactions  at  the  Island  of  Guadaloupe .  212 

III.  Cruise  among  the  Caribbee  Islands . 217 

IV.  Arrival  at  the  Harbor  of  La  Navidad — Disaster  of  the  Fortress.  .  222 

V.  Transactions  with  the  Natives— Suspicious  Conduct  of  Guacanagari . 229 

VI.  Founding  of  the  City  of  Isabella— Maladies  of  the  Spaniards .  234 

VII.  Expedition  of  Alonzo  de  Ojeda  to  explore  the  Interior  of  the  Island- 

Dispatch  of  the  Ships  to  Spain .  238 

HIT.  Discontents  at  Isabella — Mutiny  of  Bernal  Diaz  de  Pisa . 243 

IX.  Expedition  of  Columbus  to  the  Mountains  of  Cibao . 246 

T.  Excursion  of  Juan  de  Luxan  among  the  Mountains— Customs  and  Charac¬ 
teristics  of  the  Natives— Columbus  returns  to  Isabella .  253 

XI.  Arrival  of  Columbus  at  Isabella— Sickness  of  the  Colony .  263 

XII.  Distribution  of  the  Spanish  Forces  in  the  Interior— Preparations  for  a 

Voyage  to  Cuba .  268 

BOOK  VII. 

L  Voyage  to  the  East  End  of  Cuba .  271 

II.  Discovery  of  Jamaica .  275 

III.  Return  to  Cuba— Navigation  among  the  Islands  called  the  Queen’s  Gardens  278 

IV.  Coasting  of  the  Southern  Side  of  Cuba .  281 

V.  Return  of  Columbus  along  the  Southern  Coast  of  Cuba .  29# 

VI.  Coasting  Voyage  along  the  South  Side  of  Jamaica .  29S 

VII.  Voyage  along  the  South  Side  of  Hispaniola,  and  Return  to  Isabella .  299 


CONTENTS. 


5 


BOOK  VIII. 

<*HAP.  PAGK 

I.  Arrival  of  uie  Admiral  at  Isabella— Character  of  Bartholomew  Columbus.  303 

II.  Misconduct  of  Don  Pedro  Margarite,  and  his  Departure  from  the  Island..  306 

III.  Troubles  with  the  Natives — Alonzo  de  Ojeda  besieged  by  Caonabo .  310 

IV.  Measures  of  Columbus  to  restore  the  Quiet  of  the  Island — Expedition  of 

Ojeda  to  surprise  Caonabo .  315 

V.  Arrival  of  Antonio  de  Torres  with  Four  Ships  from  Spain— His  Return  with 

Indian  Slaves  .  321 

VI.  Expedition  of  Columbus  against  the  Indians  of  the  Vega — Battle .  321 

VII.  Subjugation  of  the  Natives— Imposition  of  Tribute .  328 

VIH.  Intrigues  against  Columbus  in  the  Court  of  Spain— Aguado  sent  to  investi¬ 
gate  the  Affairs  of  Hispaniola . 334 

IX.  Arrival  of  Aguado  at  Isabella— His  Arrogant  Conduct — Tempest  in  the 

Harbor . S39 

X.  Discovery  of  the  Mines  of  Hayna .  343 

BOOK  IX. 

I.  Return  of  Columbus  to  Spain  with  Aguado .  347 

H.  Decline  of  the  Popularity  of  Columbus  in  Spain— His  Reception  by  the 

Sovereigns  at  Burgos— He  proposes  a  Third  Voyage . 352 

III.  Preparations  for  a  Third  Voyage— Disappointments  and  Delays .  358 

BOOK  X. 

I.  Departure  of  Columbus  from  Spain  on  his  Third  Voyage— Discovery  of 
Trinidad .  366 

II.  Voyage  through  the  Gulf  of  Paria .  371 

-  III.  Continuation  of  the  Voyage  through  the  Gulf  of  Paria— Return  to  His¬ 
paniola  . 379 

IV.  Speculations  of  Columbus  concerning  the  Coast  of  Paria .  385 

BOOK  XI. 

I.  Administration  of  the  Adelantado— Expedition  to  the  Province  of  Xaragua  391 
H.  Establishment  of  a  Chain  of  Military  Posts— Insurrection  of  Guarionex, 

the  Cacique  of  the  Vega .  397 

III.  The  Adelantado  repairs  to  Xaragua  to  receive  Tribute . 403 

IV.  Conspiracy  of  Roldan .  407 

V.  The  Adelantado  repairs  to  the  Vega  in  relief  of  Fort  Conception — His  In¬ 
terview  with  Roldan .  412 

VI.  Second  Insurrection  of  Guarionex,  and  his  Flight  to  the  Mountains  of 

Ciguay .  416 

VII.  Campaign  of  the  Adelantado  in  the  Mountains  of  Ciguay .  419 

BOOK  XII. 

I.  Confusion  in  the  Island— Proceedings  of  the  Rebels  at  Xaragua . 425 

H.  Negotiation  of  the  Admiral  with  the  Rebels — Departure  of  Ships  for 

Spain .  429 

III.  Negotiations  and  Arrangements  with  the  Rebels .  434 

IV.  Grants  made  to  Roldan  and  his  Followers— Departure  of  several  of  the 

Rebels  for  Spain .  443 

V.  Arrival  of  Ojeda  with  a  Squadron  at  the  Western  Part  of  the  Island— 

Roldan  sent  to  meet  him .  4 17 

VT.  Manoeuvres  of  Roldan  and  Ojeda .  451 

VH.  Conspiracy  of  Guevara  and  Moxica, . .  455 


6 


CONTENTS. 


BOOK  XIII. 

CHAP.  PAGE 

I.  Representations  at  Court  against  Columbus— Bobadilla  empowered  to 

examine  into  his  Conduct .  461 

II.  Arrival  of  Bobadilla  at  San  Domingo— His  Violent  Assumption  of  the 
Command .  467 

III.  Columbus  summoned  to  appear  before  Bobadilla  .  472 

IV.  Columbus  and  his  Brothers  arrested  and  sent  to  Spain  in  Chains . 477 

\ 

BOOK  XIY. 

I.  Sensation  in  Spain  on  the  Arrival  of  Columbus  in  Irons— His  Appearance 

at  Court .  483 

II.  Contemporary  Voyages  of  Discovery .  486 

III.  Nicholas  de  Ovando  appointed  to  supersede  Bobadilla  .  490 

IV.  Proposition  of  Columbus  relative  to  the  Recovery  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre..  498 

V.  Preparations  of  Columbus  for  a  Fourth  Voyage  of  Discovery .  503 

BOOK  XV. 

I.  Departure  of  Columbus  on  his  Fourth  Voyage— Refused  Admission  to  the 

Harbor  of  San  Domingo— Exposed  to  a  Violent  Tempest .  507 

II.  Voyage  along  the  Coast  of  Honduras .  513 

HI.  Voyage  along  the  Mosquito  Coast,  and  Transactions  at  Cariari . 518 

IV.  Voyage  along  Coast  Rica — Speculations  concerning  the  Isthmus  at 

Veragua .  523 

V.  Discovery  of  Puerto  Bello  and  El  Retrete— Columbus  abandons  the  Search 

after  the  Strait .  527 

VI.  Return  to  Veragua — The  Adelantado  explores  the  Country .  530 

VH.  Commencement  of  a  Settlement  on  the  river  Belen — Conspiracy  of  the 

Natives— Expedition  of  the  Adelantado  to  surprise  Quibian .  537 

VIII.  Disasters  of  the  Settlement .  543 

IX.  Distress  of  the  Admiral  on  board  of  his  Ship— Ultimate  Relief  of  the 

Settlement .  547 

X.  Departure  from  the  Coast  of  Veragua— Arrival  at  Jamaica— Stranding  of 
the  Ships . 653 

BOOK  XVI. 

I.  Arrangement  of  Diego  Mendez  with  the  Caciques  for  Supplies  of  Pro¬ 
visions— Sent  to  San  Domingo  by  Columbus  in  quest  of  Relief .  556 

II.  Mutiny  of  Porras . ' . 562 

HI.  Scarcity  of  Provisions— Stratagem  of  Columbus  to  obtain  Supplies  from 

the  Natives .  569 

IV.  Mission  of  Diego  de  Escobar  to  the  Admiral .  572 

V.  Voyage  of  Diego  Mendez  and  Bartholomew  Fiesco  in  a  Canoe  to  Hispaniola  575 

VI.  Overtures  of  Columbus  to  the  Mutineers— Battle  of  the  Adelantado  with 

Porras  and  his  Followers .  580 

BOOK  XVII. 

I.  Administration  of  Ovando  in  Hispaniola— Oppression  of  the  Natives . 586 

II.  Massacre  at  Xaragua— Fate  of  Anacaona .  591 

III.  War  with  the  Natives  of  Higuey  .  597 

IV.  Close  of  the  War  with  Higuey— Fate  of  Cotabanama . 601 


CONTENTS. 


7 


BOOK  XVIII. 

CHAP.  PAGE 

j[.  Departure  of  Columbus  for  San  Domingo— His  Return  to  Spain .  607 

II.  Illness  of  Columbus  at  Seville — Application  to  the  Crown  for  a  Restitution 

of  his  Honors— Death  of  Isabella .  613 

III.  Columbus  arrives  at  Court— Fruitless  Application  to  the  King  for  Redress  613 

IV.  Death  of  Columbus . 624 

V.  Observations  on  the  Character  of  Columbus .  62‘< 


APPENDIX. 

NUMBER 

I.  Transportation  of  the  Remains  of  Columbus  from  St.  Domingo  to 

the  Havana .  637 

II.  Notice  of  the  Descendants  of  Columbus .  639 

HI.  Fernando  Columbus . 648 

IV.  Age  of  Columbus  . . . 650 

V.  Lineage  of  Columbus . 651 

VI.  Birthplace  of  Columbus .  652 

VH.  The  Colombos .  657 

VIII.  Expedition  of  John  of  Anjou . 658 

IX.  Capture  of  the  Venetian  Galleys  by  Colombo  the  Younger .  659 

X.  Amerigo  Vespucci .  661 

XI.  Martin  Alonzo  Pinzon .  670 

XII.  Rumor  of  the  Pilot  said  to  have  died  in  the  House  of  Columbus . 672 

XIII.  Martin  Behem . 674 

XIV.  Voyages  of  the  Scandinavians .  676 

XV.  Circumnavigation  of  Africa  by  the  Ancients .  680 

XVI.  Of  the  Ships  of  Columbus .  681 

XVII.  Route  of  Columbus  in  his  First  Voyage .  682 

XVHI.  Principles  upon  which  the  Sums  mentioned  in  this  Work  have  been 

reduced  into  Modern  Currency .  691 

XIX.  Prester  John .  692 

XX.  Marco  Polo  . 693 

XXI.  The  Work  of  Marco  Polo . 698 

XXII.  Sir  John  Mandeville .  702 

XX111.  The  Zones .  703 

XXIV.  Of  the  Atalantis  of  Plato .  704 

XXV.  The  Imaginary  Island  of  St.  Brandan...  .  704 

XXVI.  The  Island  of  the  Seven  Cities .  709 

XXVII.  Discovery  of  the  Island  of  Madeira .  710 

XXVIII.  Las  Casas .  712 

XXIX.  Peter  Martyr . 716 

XXX.  Oviedo .  720 

XXXI.  Cura  de  Los  Palacios .  720 

XXXH.  “  Navigatione  del  Re  de  Castiglia  del  Isole  e  Paese  Nuovamente 

Ritrovate” — “  Navigatio  Christophori  Colombi” . 721 

XXXni.  Antonio  de  Herrera .  722 

XXXIV.  Bishop  Fonseca .  723 

XXXV.  Of  the  Situation  of  the  Terrestrial  Paradise .  725 

XXXVI.  Will  of  Columbus .  728 

XXXVII.  Signature  of  Columbus . 730 


V 


. 


. 


. 


PREFACE. 


Being  at  Bordeaux  in  the  winter  of  1825-6,  I  received  a 
letter  from  Mr.  Alexander  Everett,  Minister  Plenipotentiary 
of  the  United  States  at  Madrid,  informing  me  of  a  work  then 
in  the  press,  edited  by  Don  Martin  Fernandez  de  Navarrete, 
Secretary  of  the  Royal  Academy  of  History,  etc.  etc.,  contain¬ 
ing  a  collection  of  documents  relative  to  the  voyages  of  Colum¬ 
bus,  among  which  were  many  of  a  highly  important  nature, 
recently  discovered.  Mr.  Everett,  at  the  same  time,  expressed 
an  opinion  that  a  version  of  the  work  into  English,  by  one  of 
our  own  country,  would  be  peculiarly  desirable.  I  concurred 
with  him  in  the  opinion ;  and,  having  for  some  time  intended 
a  visit  to  Madrid,  I  shortly  afterward  set  off  for  that  capital, 
with  an  idea  of  undertaking-,  while  there,  the  translation  of 
the  work. 

Soon  after  my  arrival,  the  publication  of  M.  Navarrete 
made  its  appearance.  I  found  it  to  contain  many  documents, 
hitherto  unknown,  which  threw  additional  lights  on  the  dis¬ 
covery  of  the  New  World,  and  which  reflected  the  greatest 
credit  on  the  industry  and  activity  of  the  learned  editor.  Still 
the  whole  presented  rather  a  mass  of  rich  materials  for  history, 
than  a  history  itself.  And  invaluable  as  such  stores  may  be  to 
the  laborious  inquirer,  the  sight  of  disconnected  papers  and 
official  documents  is  apt  to  be  repulsive  to  the  general  reader, 
who  seeks  for  clear  and  continued  narrative.  These  circum¬ 
stances  made  me  hesitate  in  my  proposed  undertaking;  yet 
the  subject  was  of  so  interesting  and  national  a  kind,  that  I 
could  not  willingly  abandon  it. 

On  considering  the  matter  more  maturely,  I  perceived  that, 
although  there  were  many  books,  in  various  languages,  relative 
to  Columbus,  they  all  contained  limited  and  incomplete  ac¬ 
counts  of  his  life  and  voyages ;  while  numerous  valuable  tracts 
on  the  subject  existed  only  in  manuscript  or  in  the  form  of 


10 


PREFACE. 


letters,  journals,  and  public  muniments.  It  appeared  to  me 
that  a  history,  faithfully  digested  from  these  various  mate¬ 
rials,  was  a  desideratum  in  literature,  and  would  be  a  more 
satisfactory  occupation  to  myself,  and  a  more  acceptable  work 
to  my  country,  than  the  translation  I  had  contemplated. 

I  was  encouraged  to  undertake  such  a  work,  by  the  great, 
facilities  which  I  found  within  my  reach  at  Madrid.  I  was 
resident  under  the  roof  of  the  American  Consul,  O.  Rich,  Esq., 
one  of  the  most  indefatigable  bibliographers  in  Europe,  who, 
for  several  years,  had  made  particular  researches  after  every 
document  relative  to  the  early  history  of  America.  In  his  ex¬ 
tensive  and  curious  library,  I  found  one  of  the  best  collections 
extant  of  Spanish  colonial  history,  containing  many  documents 
for  which  I  might  search  elsewhere  in  vain.  This  he  put  at 
my  absolute  command,  with  a  frankness  and  unreserve  seldom 
to  be  met  with  among  the  possessors  of  such  rare  and  valuable 
works ;  and  his  library  has  been  my  main  resource  throughout 
the  whole  of  my  labors. 

I  found  also  the  Royal  Library  of  Madrid,  and  the  library  of 
the  Jesuits’  College  of  San  Isidro,  two  noble  and  extensive 
collections,  open  to  access,  and  conducted  with  great  order  and 
liberality.  From  Don  Martin  Fernandez  de  Navarrete,  who 
communicated  various  valuable  and  curious  pieces  of  informa¬ 
tion,  discovered  in  the  course  of  his  researches,  I  received  the 
most  obliging  assistance ;  nor  can  I  refrain  from  testifying  my 
admiration  of  the  self-sustained  zeal  of  that  estimable  man, 
one  of  the  last  veterans  of  Spanish  literature,  who  is  almost 
alone,  yet  indefatigable  in  his  labors,  in  a  country  where,  at 
present,  literary  exertion  meets  with  but  little  excitement  or 
reward. 

I  must  acknowledge,  also,  the  liberality  of  the  Duke  of  Ve- 
ragna,  the  descendant  and  representative  of  Columbus,  who 
submitted  the  archives  of  his  family  to  my  inspection,  and  took 
a  personal  interest  in  exhibiting  the  treasures  they  contained. 
Nor,  lastly,  must  I  omit  my  deep  obligations  to  my  excellent 
friend  Don  Antonio  de  Uguina,  treasurer  of  the  Prince  Fran¬ 
cisco,  a  gentleman  of  talents  and  erudition,  and  particularly 
versed  in  the  history  of  his  country  and  its  dependencies.  To 
his  unwearied  investigations,  and  silent  and  unavowed  con¬ 
tributions,  the  world  is  indebted  for  much  of  the  accurate 
information,  recently  imparted,  on  points  of  early  colonial  his¬ 
tory.  In  the  possession  of  this  gentleman  are  most  of  the 
papers  of  his  deceased  friend,  the  late  historian  Munos,  who 


I 


PREFACE. 


11 


was  cut  off  in  the  midst  of  his  valuable  labors.  These,  and 
various  other  documents,  have  been  imparted  to  me  by  Don 
Antonia,  with  a  kindness  and  urbanity  which  greatly  increased, 
yet  lightened,  the  obligation. 

With  these,  and  other  aids  incidentally  afforded  me  by  my 
local  situation,  I  have  endeavored,  to  the  best  of  my  abilities, 
and  making  the  most  of  the  time  which  I  could  allow  myself 
during  a  sojourn  in  a  foreign  country,  to  construct  this  history. 
I  have  diligently  collated  all  the  works  that  I  could  find  relative 
to  my  subject,  in  print  and  manuscript ;  comparing  them,  as 
far  as  in  my  power,  with  original  documents,  t'hose  sure  fights 
of  historic  research ;  endeavoring  to  ascertain  the  truth  amid 
those  contradictions  which  will  inevitably  occur,  where  several 
persons  have  recorded  the  same  facts,  viewing  them  from 
different  points,  and  under  the  influence  of  different  interests 
and  feelings. 

In  the  execution  of  this  work  I  have  avoided  indulging  in 
mere  speculations  or  general  reflections,  excepting  such  as  rose 
naturally  out  of  the  subject,  preferring  to  give  a  minute  and 
circumstantial  narrative,  omitting  no  particular  that  appeared 
characteristic  of  the  persons,  the  events,  or  the  times ;  and  en¬ 
deavoring  to  place  every  fact  in  such  a  point  of  view,  that  the 
reader  might  perceive  its  merits,  and  draw  his  own  maxims 
and  conclusions. 

As  many  points  of  the  history  required  explanations,  drawn 
from  contemporary  events  and  the  literature  of  the  times,  I 
have  preferred,  instead  of  incumbering  the  narrative,  to  give 
detached  illustrations  at  the  end  of  the  work.  This  also  enabled 
me  to  indulge  in  greater  latitude  of  detail,  where  the  subject 
was  of  a  curious  or  interesting  nature,  and  the  sources  of  in¬ 
formation  such  as  not  to  be  within  the  common  course  of 
reading. 

After  all,  the  work  is  presented  to  the  public  with  extreme 
diffidence.  All  that  I  can  safely  claim  is,  an  earnest  desire  to 
state  the  truth,  an  absence  from  prejudices  respecting  the 
nations  mentioned  in  my  history,  a  strong  interest  in  my  sub¬ 
ject,  and  a  zeal  to  make  up  by  assiduity  for  many  deficiencies 
of  which  I  am  conscious. 

Washington  Irving. 

Madrid ,  1827. 

P.  S. — I  have  been  surprised  at  finding  myself  accused  by 
come  American  writer  of  not  giving  sufficient  credit  to  Do© 


12 


PREFACE. 


Martin  Fernandez  de  Navarrete  for  the  aid  I  had  derived  from 
his  collection  of  documents.  I  had  thought  I  had  sufficiently 
shown,  in  the  preceding  preface,  which  appeared  with  my  first 
edition,  that  his  collection  first  prompted  my  work  and  subse¬ 
quently  furnished  its  principal  materials ;  and  that  I  had  illus¬ 
trated  this  by  citations  at  the  foot  of  almost  every  page.  In 
preparing  this  revised  edition,  I  have  carefully  and  conscien¬ 
tiously  examined  into  the  matter,  but  find  nothing  to  add  to  the 
acknowledgments  already  made. 

To  show  the  feelings  and  opinions  of  M.  Navarrete  himself 
with  respect  to  my  work  and  myself,  I  subjoin  an  extract  from 
a  letter  received  from  that  excellent  man,  and  a  passage  from 
the  introduction  to  the  third  volume  of  his  collection.  Nothing 
but  the  desire  to  vindicate  myself  on  this  head  would  induce 
me  to  publish  extracts  so  laudatory. 

From  a  letter  dated  Madrid ,  April  1st,  1831. 

I  congratulate  myself  that  the  documents  and  notices  which 
I  published  in  my  collection  about  the  first  occurrences  in  the 
history  of  America,  have  fallen  into  hands  so  able  to  appreciate 
their  authenticity,  to  examine  them  critically,  and  to  circulate 
them  in  all  directions ;  establishing  fundamental  truths  which 
hitherto  have  been  adulterated  by  partial  or  systematic 
writers. 

Yo  me  complazeo  en  que  los  documentos  y  noticias  que 
publico  en  mi  coleccion  sobre  los  primeros  acontecimientos  de  la 
historia  de  America,  hayan  recaido  en  manos  tan  habiles  para 
apreciar  su  autenticidad,  para  examinar  las  con  critica  y  propa- 
garlas  por  todos  partes  echando  los  fundamentos  de  la  verdad 
que  hasta  ahora  ha  sido  tan  adulterada  par  los  escri  tores  par- 
ciales  d  sistematicos. 

In  the  introduction  to  the  third  volume  of  his  Collection  of 
Spanish  Voyages,  Mr.  Navarrete  cites  various  testimonials  he 
has  received  since  the  publication  of  his  two  first  volumes  of  the 
utility  of  his  work  to  the  republic  of  letters. 

‘‘A  signal  proof  of  this,”  he  continues,  “is  just  given  us  by 
Mr.  Washington  Irving  in  the  History  of  the  Life  and  Voyages 
of  Christopher  Columbus,  which  he  has  published  with  a  suc¬ 
cess  as  general  as  it  is  well  merited.  We  said  in  our  introduc¬ 
tion  that  we  did  not  propose  to  write  the  history  of  the  admiral, 
but  to  publish  notes  and  materials  that  it  might  be  written 


PREFACE. 


13 


with  vnracity ;  and  it  is  fortunate  that  the  first  person  to  profit 
by  them  should  be  a  literary  man,  judicious  and  erudite, 
already  known  in  his  own  country  and  in  Europe  by  other 
works  of  merit.  Resident  in  Madrid,  exempt  from  the  rivalries 
which  have  influenced  some  European  natives  with  respect  to 
Columbus  and  his  discoveries  ;  having  an  opportunity  to  exam¬ 
ine  excellent  books  and  precious  manuscripts  ;  to  converse  with 
persons  instructed  in  these  matters,  and  having  always  at  hand 
the  authentic  documents  which  we  had  just  published,  he  has 
been  enabled  to  give  to  his  history  that  fulness,  impartiality, 
and  exactness  which  make  it  much  superior  to  those  of  the 
writers  who  preceded  him.  To  this  he  adds  his  regular  method, 
and  convenient  distribution  ;  his  style  animated,  pure,  and 
elegant ;  the  notice  of  various  personages  who  mingled  in  the 
concerns  of  Columbus  ;  and  the  examination  of  various  ques¬ 
tions,  in  which  always  shine  sound  criticism,  erudition,  and 
good  taste.” 

Insigne  prueba  de  esto  mismo  acaba  de  damos  el  Senor  Wash¬ 
ington  Irving  en  la  Historia  de  la  Yida  y  de  los  Viages  de 
Cristobal  Colon  que  ha  publicado  con  una  aceptacion  tan 
general  como  bien  merecida.  Diginos  en  nuestra  introduccion 
(1  §  56  pag.  lxxxii.)  que  no  nos  proponiamos  escribir  la  historia 
de  aqual  almirante,  sino  publicar  noticias  y  materiales  para  que 
se  escribiesce  con  veracidad,  y  es  una  fortuna  que  el  primero 
que  se  haya  aprovechado  de  ellas  sea  un  literato  juicioso  y 
erudito,  conocido  ya  en  su  patria  y  en  Europa  por  otras  obras 
apreciables.  Colocado  en  Madrid,  exento  de  las  rivalidades  que 
han  dominado  entre  algunas  naciones  Europeas  sob  re  Colon  y 
sus  descubrimientos  ;  con  la  proporcion  de  examinar  excelentes 
libros  y  preciosos  manuscritos,  de  tratar  a  personas  instruidas 
en  estas  materias,  y  teniendo  siempre  a  la  mano  los  autenticos 
documentos  que  acabamos  de  publicar,  ha  logrado  dar  a  su  his¬ 
toria  aquella  extension  imparcialidad  y  exactitud  que  la  haeen 
muy  superior  a  las  de  los  escritores  que  la  precedieron.  Agre- 
gase  a  esto  su  metodico  arreglo  y  conveniente  distribucion ;  su 
estilo  animado,  puro  y  elegante  ;  la  noticia  de  varios  personages 
que  intervenieron  en  los  sucesos  de  Colon,  y  el  examen  de 
varias  cuestiones  en  que  luce  siempre  la  mas  sana  critica,  la 
erudicion  y  buen  gusto. — Prologo  al  tomo  3°. 


THE  LIFE  AHD  TOY  AGES 


OF 

CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


BOOK  I. 

^Whether  in  old  times,  beyond  the  reach  of  history  or  tra¬ 
dition,  and  in  some  remote  period  of  civilization,  when,  as 
some  imagine,  the  arts  may  have  flourished  to  a  degree  un¬ 
known  to  those  whom  we  term  the  Ancients,  there  existed 
an  intercourse  between  the  opposite  shores  Of  the  Atlantic; 
whether  the  Egyptian  legend,  narrated  by  Plato,  respecting 
the  island  of  Atalantis  was  indeed  no  fable,  but  the  obscure 
tradition  of  some  vast  country,  engulfed  by  one  of  those  mighty 
convulsions  of  our  globe,  which  have  left  traces  of  the  ocean  on 
the  summits  of  lofty  mountains,  must  ever  remain  matters  of 
vague  and  visionary  speculation.  As  far  as  authenticated  his¬ 
tory  extends,  nothing  was  known  of  terra  firma,  and  the  islands 
of  the  western  hemisphere,  until  their  discovery  toward  the 
close  of  the  fifteenth  century.  A  wandering  bark  may  occa¬ 
sionally  have  lost  sight  of  the  landmarks  of  the  old  conti¬ 
nents,  and  been  driven  by  tempests  across  the  wilderness  of 
waters  long  before  the  invention  of  the  compass,  but  never  re¬ 
turned  to  peveal  the  secrets  of  the  ocean.  And  though,  from 
time  to  time,  some  document  has  floated  to  the  shores  of  the 
old  world,  giving  to  its  wondering  inhabitants  evidences  of  land 
far  beyond  their  watery  horizon ;  yet  no  one  ventured  to  spread 
a  sail,  and  seek  that  land  enveloped  in  mystery  and  peril.  Or 
if  the  legends  of  the  Scandinavian  voyagers  be  correct,  and 
their  mysterious  Yinland  was  the  coast  of  Labrador,  or  the 
shore  of  Newfoundland,  they  had  but  transient  glimpses  of  the 


16 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


new  world,  leading  to  no  certain  or  permanent  knowledge,  and 
in  a  little  time  lost  again  to  mankind.*  Certain  it  is  that  at  the 
beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century,  when  the  most  intelligent 
minds  were  seeking  in  every  direction  for  the  scattered  lights 
of  geographical  knowledge,  a  profound  ignorance  prevailed 
among  the  learned  as  to  the  western  regions  of  the  Atlantic ; 
its  vast  waters  were  regarded  with  awe  and  wonder,  seeming  to 
bound  the  world  as  with  a  chaos,  into  which  conjecture  could 
not  penetrate,  and  enterprise  feared  to  adventure.  We  need  no 
greater  proofs  of  this  than  the  description  given  of  the  Atlantic 
by  Xerif  al  Edrisi,  surnamed  the  Nubian,  an  eminent  Arabian 
writer,  whose  countrymen  were  the  boldest  navigators  of  the 
middle  ages,  and  possessed  all  that  was  then  known  of  geog¬ 
raphy. 

The  ocean,”  he  observes,  “  encircles  the  ultimate  bounds  of 
the  inhabited  earth,  and  all  beyond  it  is  unknown.  No  one  has 
been  able  to  verify  anything  concerning  it,  on  account  of  its 
difficult  and  perilous  navigation,  its  great  obscurity,  its  pro¬ 
found  depth,  and  frequent  tempests ;  through  fear  of  its  mighty 
fishes,  and  its  haughty  winds ;  yet  there  are  many  islands  in 
it,  some  peopled,  others  uninhabited.  There  is  no  mariner  who 
dares  to  enter  into  its  deep  waters ;  or  if  any  have  done  so,  they 
have  merely  kept  along  its  coasts,  fearful  of  departing  from 
them.  The  waves  of  this  ocean,  although  they  roll  as  high  as 
mountains,  yet  maintain  themselves  without  breaking;  for  if 
they  broke,  it  would  be  impossible  for  ship  to  plough  them.”  f 
It  is  the  object  of  the  following  work,  to  relate  the  deeds  and 
fortunes  of  the  mariner  who  first  had  the  judgment  to  divine, 
and  the  intrepidity  to  brave  the  mysteries  of  this  perilous  deep; 
and  who,  by  his  hardy  genius,  his  inflexible  constancy,  and 
his  heroic  courage,  brought  the  ends  of  the  earth  into  commu- 
ication  with  each  other.  The  narrative  of  his  troubled  life  is 
the  link  which  connects  the  history  of  the  old  world  with  that 
of  the  new. 


*See  illustrations  in  Appendix  at  the  end  of  this  work,  article  “Scandinavian 
Discoveries.” 

t  Description  of  Spain,  by  Xerif  al  Edrisi;  Conde’s  Spanish  translation.  Madrid, 

im. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

BIRTH,  PARENTAGE,  AND  EARLY  LIFE  OP  COLUMBUS. 

Christopher  Columbus,  or  Colombo,  as  the  name  is  written 
in  Italian,*  was  born  in  the  city  of  Genoa,  about  the  year  1435. 
He  was  the  son  of  Dominico  Colombo,  a  wool-comber,  and  Su¬ 
sannah  Fontanarossa,  his  wife,  and  it  would  seem  that  his  an¬ 
cestors  had  followed  the  same  handicraft  far  several  genera¬ 
tions  in  Genoa.  Attempts  have  been  made  to  prove  him  of 
illustrious  descent;,  and  several  noble  houses  have  laid  claim  to 
him  since  his  name  has  become  so  renowned  as  to  confer  rather 
than  receive  distinction.  It  is  possible  some  of  them  may  be  in 
the  right,  for  the  feuds  in  Italy  in  those  ages  had  broken  down 
and  scattered  many  of  the  noblest  families,  and  while  some 
branches  remained  in  the  lordly  heritage  of  castles  and  do¬ 
mains,  others  were  confounded  with  the  humblest  population 
of  the  cities.  The  fact,  however,  is  not  material  to  his  fame; 
and  it  is  a  higher  proof  of  merit  to  be  the  object  of  contention 
among  various  noble  families,  than  to  be  able  to  substantiate 
the  most  illustrious  lineage.  His  son  Fernando  had  a  true  feel¬ 
ing  on  the  subject.  “  I  am  of  opinion,”  says  he,  “that  I  should 
derive  less  dignity  from  any  nobility  of  ancestry,  than  from 
being  the  son  of  such  a  father.”  f 

Columbus  was  the  oldest  of  four  children;  having  two 
brothers,  Bartholomew  and  Giacomo,  or  James  (written  Diego 
in  Spanish),  and  one  sister,  of  whom  nothing  is  known  but 
that  she  was  married  to  a  person  in  obscure  life  called  Giacomo 
Bavarello.  At  a  very  early  age  Columbus  evinced  a  decided 
inclination  for  the  sea;  his  education,  therefore,  was  mainly 
directed  to  fit  him  for  maritime  life,  but  was  as  general  as  the 


*  Columbus  Latinized  his  name  in  his  letters  according  to  the  usage  of  the  time, 
when  Latin  was  the  language  of  learned  correspondence.  In  subsequent  life  when 
in  Spain  he  recurred  to  what  was  supposed  to  be  the  original  Roman  name  of  the 
family,  Colonus,  which  he  abbreviated  to  Colon,  to  adapt  it  to  the  Castilian 
tongue.  Hence  he  is  known  in  Spanish  history  as  Christo val  Colon.  In  the  present 
work  the  name  will  be  w-ritten  Columbus,  being  the  one  by  which  he  is  most  known 
throughout  the  world. 

t  The  reader  will  find  the  vexed  questions  about  the  age,  birthplace,  and  lineage 
of  Columbus  severally  discussed  iu  the  Appendix. 


18 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


narrow  means  of  his  father  would  permit.  Besides  the  ordi 
nary  branches  of  reading,  writing,  grammar,  and  arithmetic,  he 
was  instructed  in  the  Latin  tongue,  and  made  some  proficiency 
in  drawing  and  design.  For  a  short  time,  also,  he  was  sent  to 
the  university  of  Pavia,  where  he  studied  geometry,  geography, 
astronomy,  and  navigation.  He  then  returned  to  Genoa,  where, 
according  to  a  contemporary  historian,  he  assisted  his  father 
in  his  trade  of  wool-combing.*  This  assertion  is  indignantly 
contradicted  by  his  son  Fernando,  though  there  is  nothing  in 
it  improbable,  and  he  gives  us  no  information  of  his  father’s 
occupation  to  supply  its  place.  He  could  not,  however,  have 
remained  long  in  this  employment,  as,  according  to  his  own 
account,  he  entered  upon  a  nautical  life  when  but  fourteen 
years  of  age.f 

In  tracing  the  early  history  of  a  man  like  Columbus,  whose 
actions  have  had  a  vast  effect  on  human  affairs,  it  is  interest¬ 
ing  to  notice  how  much  has  been  owing  to  external  influences, 
how  much  to  an  inborn  propensity  of  the  genius.  In  the  latter 
part  of  his  life,  when,  impressed  with  the  sublime  events 
brought  about  through  his  agency,  Columbus  looked  back  upon 
his  career  with  a  solemn  and  superstitious  feeling,  he  attribut¬ 
ed  his  early  and  irresistible  inclination  for  the  sea,  and  his 
passion  for  geographical  studies,  to  an  impulse  from  the  Deity 
preparing  him  for  the  high  decrees  he  was  chosen  to  accom¬ 
plish.  | 

The  nautical  propensity,  however,  evinced  by  Columbus  in 
early  life,  is  common  to  boys  of  enterprising  spirit  and  lively 
imagination  brought  up  in  maritime  cities;  to  whom  the  sea 
is  the  highroad  to  adventure  and  the  region  of  romance.  Ge¬ 
noa,  too,  walled  in  and  straitened  on  the  land  side  by  rugged 
mountains,  yielded  but  little  scope  for  enterprise  on  shore,  while 
an  opulent  and  widely  extended  commerce,  visiting  every  coun¬ 
try,  and  a  roving  marine,  battling  in  every  sea,  naturally  led 
forth  her  children  upon  the  waves,  as  their  propitious  element. 
Many,  too,  were  induced  to  emigrate  by  the  violent  factions 
which  raged  within  the  bosom  of  the  city,  and  often  dyed  its 
streets  with  blood.  A  historian  of  Genoa  laments  this  prone¬ 
ness  of  its  youth  to  wander.  They  go,  said  he,  with  the  inten- 


*  Agostino  Giustiniani,  Ann.  de  Genova.  His  assertion  has  been  echoed  by  othei 
historians,  viz.,  Anton  Gallo  de  Navigatione  Colombi,  etc.,  Murakori,  tom.  xxiii.,- 
Barta  Senaraga,  de  rebus  Genuensibus,  Muratori,  tom.  24. 
t  Hist,  del  Almirante,  eap.  4. 

$  Letters  to  the  Castilian  Sovereigns,  1501. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


tion  of  returning  when  they  shall  have  acquired  the  means  oi 
living  comfortably  and  honorably  in  their  native  place ;  but  we 
know  from  long  experience,  that  of  twenty  who  thus  depart 
scarce  two  return:  either  dying  abroad,  or  taking  to  themselves 
Coreign  wives,  or  being  loath  to  expose  themselves  to  the 
tempests  of  civil  discords  which  distract  the  republic.* 

The  strong  passion  for  geographical  knowledge,  also,  felt  by 
Columbus  in  early  life,  and  which  inspired  his  after  career,  was 
incident  to  the  age  in  which  he  lived.  Geographical  discovery 
was  the  brilliant  path  of  light  which  was  forever  to  distinguish 
the  fifteenth  century.  During  a  long  night  of  monkish  bigotry 
and  false  learning,  geography,  with  the  other  sciences,  had 
been  lost  to  the  European  nations.  Fortunately  it  had  not 
been  lost  to  mankind :  it  had  taken  refuge  in  the  bosom  of  AD 
rica.  While  the  pedantic  schoolmen  of  the  cloisters  were  wast- 
mg  time  and  talent,  and  confounding  erudition  by  idle  reveries 
and  sophistical  dialectics,  the  Arabian  sages,  assembled  at 
Senaar,  were  taking  the  measurement  of  a  degree  of  latitude, 
and  calculating  the  circumference  of  the  earth,  on  the  vast 
plains  of  Mesopotamia. 

True  knowledge,  thus  happily  preserved,  was  now  making 
its  way  back  to  Europe.  The  revival  of  science  accompanied 
the  revival  of  letters.  Among  the  various  authors  which  the 
awakening  zeal  for  ancient  literature  had  once  more  brought 
into  notice,  were  Pliny,  pomponius  Mela,  and  Strabo.  From 
these  was  regained  a  fund  of  geographical  knowledge,  which 
had  lohg  faded  from  the  public  mind.  Curiosity  was  aroused 
to  pursue  this  forgotten  path,  thus  suddenly  .reopened.  A 
translation  of  the  work  of  Ptolemy  had  been  made  into  Latin, 
at  the  commencement  of  the  century,  by  Emanuel  Chrysoleras, 
a  noble  and  learned  Greek,  and  had  thus  been  rendered  more 
familiar  to  the  Italian  students.  Another  translation  had  fol¬ 
lowed,  by  James  Angel  de  Scarpiaria,  of  which  fair  and  beau¬ 
tiful  copies  became  common  in  the  Italian  libraries.!  The 
writings  also  began  to  be  sought  after  of  Averroes,  Alfraga- 
nus,  and  other  Arabian  sages,  who  had  kept  the  sacred  fire 
of  science  alive,  during  the  interval  of  European  darkness. 

Tfie  knowledge  thus  reviving  was  limited  and  imperfect ;  yet, 
like  the  return  of  morning  light,  it  seemed  to  call  a  new  crea¬ 
tion  into  existence,  and  broke,  with  all  the  charm  of  wonder, 


*  Foglieta,  Istoria  de  Genova,  lib.  ii. 
t  Andres*  Hist.  £.  Let.,  lib.  iii,  cap.  2, 


20 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


upon  imaginative  minds.  They  were  surprised  at  their  own 
ignorance  of  the  world  around  them.  Every  step  was  dis¬ 
covery,  for  every  region  beyond  their  native  country  was  in  a 
manner  terra  incognita. 

Such  was  the  state  of  information  and  feeling  with  respect  to 
this  interesting  science,  in  the  early  part  of  the  fifteenth  cen¬ 
tury.  An  interest  still  more  intense  was  awakened  by  the  dis¬ 
coveries  which  began  to  be  made  along  the  Atlantic  coasts  of 
Africa ;  and  must  have  been  particularly  felt  among  a  maritime 
and  commercial  people  like  the  Genoese.  To  these  circum¬ 
stances  may  we  ascribe  the  enthusiastic  devotion  which  Colum¬ 
bus  imbibed  in  his  childhood  for  cosmographical  studies,  and 
which  influenced  all  his  after  fortunes. 

Tne  short  time  passed  by  him  at  the  university  of  Pavia  was 
barely  sufficient  to  give  him  the  rudiments  of  the  necessary 
sciences ;  the  familiar  acquaintance  with  them,  which  he  evinced 
in  after  life,  must  have  been  the  result  of  diligent  self -schooling, 
in  casual  hours  of  study  amid  the  cares  aud  vicissitudes  of  a 
rugged  and  wandering  life.  He  was  one  of  those  men  of  strong 
natural  genius,  who,  from  having  to  contend  at  their  very  out¬ 
set  with  privations  and  impediments,  acquire  an  intrepidity  in 
encountering  and  a  facility  in  vanquishing  difficulties,  through¬ 
out  their  career.  Such  men  learn  to  effect  great  purposes  with 
small  means,  supplying  this  deficiency  by  the  resources  of  their 
own  energy  and  invention.  This,  from  his  earliest  commence¬ 
ment,  throughout  the  whole  of  his  life,  was  one  of  the  remark 
able  features  in  the  history  of  Columbus.  In  every  undertak  - 
ing,  the  scantiness  and  apparent  insufficiency  of  his  means 
enhance  the  grandeur  ox  his  achievements. 


CHAPTER  II. 

EARLY  VOYAGES  OF  COLUMBUS. 

Columbus,  as  has-been  observed,  commenced  his  nautical 
career  when  about  fourteen  years  of  age.  His  first  voyages 
were  made  with  a  distant  relative  named  Colombo,  a  hardy 
veteran  of  the  seas,  who  had  risen  to  some  distinction  by  hia 
bravery,  and  is  occasionally  mentioned  in  old  chronicles ;  some¬ 
times  as  commanding  a  squadron  of  his  own,  sometimes  as  an 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


21 


admiral  in  the  Genoese  service.  He  appears  to  have  been  bold 
and  adventurous ;  ready  to  fight  in  any  cause,  and  to  seek  quar- 
rel  wherever  it  might  lawfully  be  found. 

The  seafaring  life  of  the  Mediterranean  in  those  days  was 
hazardous  and  daring.  A  commercial  expedition  resembled  a 
warlike  cruise,  and  the  maritime  merchant  had  often  to  fight  liis 
way  from  port  to  port.  Piracy  was  almost  legalized.  The  fre¬ 
quent  feuds  between  the  Italian  states ;  the  cruisings  of  the 
Catalonians ;  the  armadas  fitted  out  by  private  noblemen,  who 
exercised  a  kind  of  sovereignty  in  their  own  domains,  and  kept 
petty  armies  and  navies  in  their  pay;  the  roving  ships  and 
squadrons  of  private  adventurers,  a  kind  of  naval  Condottieri, 
sometimes  employed  by  the  hostile  governments,  sometimes 
scouring  the  seas  m  search  of  lawless  booty ;  these,  with  the  holy 
wars  waged  against  the  Mahometan  powers,  rendered  the  nar¬ 
row  seas,  to  which  navigation  was  principally  confined,  scenes 
of  hardy  encounters  and  trying  reverses. 

Such  was  the  rugged  school  in  which  Columbus  was  reared, 
and  it>  would  have  been  deeply  interesting  to  have  marked  the 
early  development  of  his  genius  amid  its  stern  adversities.  All 
this  instructive  era  of  his  history,  however,  is  covered  with 
darkness.  His  son  Fernando,  who  could  have  best  elucidated 
it,  has  left  it  in  obscurity,  or  has  now  and  then  perplexed  us 
with  cross  lights ;  perhaps  unwilling,  from  a  principle  of  mis¬ 
taken  pride,  to  reveal  the  indigence  and  obscurity  from  which 
hig  father  so  gloriously  emerged. 

The  first  voyage  in  which  we  have  any  account  of  his  being 
engaged  was  a  naval  expedition,  fitted  out  in  Genoa  in  1459  by 
John  of  An  j  oil,  Duke  of  Calabria,  to  make  a  descent  upon 
Naples,  in  the  hope  of  recovering  that  kingdom  for  his  father 
King  Reinier,  or  Renato,  otherwise  called  Rene,  Count  of  Pro¬ 
vence.  The  republic  of  Genoa  aided  him  with  ships  and  mo¬ 
ney.  The  brilliant  nature  of  the  enterprise  attracted  the  atten 
tion  of  daring  and  restless  spirits.  The  chivalrous  nobleman, 
the  soldier  of  fortune,  the  hardy  corsair,  the  desperate  adven¬ 
turer,  the  mercenary  partisan,  all  hastened  to  enlist  under  the 
banner  of  Anjou.  The  veteran  Colombo  took  a  part  in  this  ex¬ 
pedition,  either  with  galleys  of  his  own,  or  as  a  commander  of 
the  Genoese  squadron,  and  with  him  embarked  his  youthful 
relative,  the  future  discoverer. 

The  struggle  of  John  of  Anjou  for  the  crown  of  Naples  lasted 
about  four  years,  with  varied  fortune,  but  was  finally  unsuc¬ 
cessful,  The  naval  part  of  the  expedition,  in  which  Columbus 


22 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


was  engaged,  signalized  itself  by  acts  of  intrepidity ;  and  at  one 
time,  when  the  duke  was  reduced  to  take  refuge  in  the  island 
of  Ischia,  a  handful  of  galleys  scoured  and  controlled  the  bay  of 

Naples.* 

In  the  course  of  thi§  gallant  but  ill-fated  enterprise,  Columbus 
was  detached  on  a  perilous  cruise,  to  cut  out  a  galley  from  the 
harbor  of  Tunis.  This  is  incidentally  mentioned  by  himself  in 
a  letter  written  many  years  afterward.  It  happened  to  me,  he 
says,  that  King  Reinier  (whom  God  has  taken  to  himself)  sent 
me  to  Tunis,  to  capture  the  galley  Fernandina,  and  when  I  ar- 
arrived  off  the  island  of  St.  Pedro,  in  Sardinia,  I  was  informed 
that  there  were  two  ships  and  a  carrack  with  the  galley ;  by 
which  intelligence  my  crew  were  so  troubled  that  they  deter¬ 
mined  to  proceed  no  further,  but  to  return  to  Marseilles  for  an¬ 
other  vessel  and  more  people ;  as  I  could  not  by  any  means  com¬ 
pel  them,  I  assented  apparently  to  their  wishes,  altering  the 
point  of  the  compass  and  spreading  all  sail.  It  was  then  even¬ 
ing,  and  next  morning  we  were  within  the  Cape  of  Carthagena, 
while  all  were  firmly  of  opinion  that  they  were  sailing  toward 
Marseilles.! 

We  have  no  further  record  of  this  bold  cruise  into  the  harbor 
of  Tunis ;  but  in  the  foregoing  particulars  we  behold  early  indi¬ 
cations  of  that  resolute  and  persevering  spirit  which  insured 
him  success  in  his  more  important  undertakings.  His  expedient 
to  beguile  a  discontented  crew  into  a  continuation  of  the  enter¬ 
prise,  by  deceiving  them  with  respect  to  the  ship’s  course,  will 
be  found  in  unison  with  a  stratagem  of  altering  the  reckoning, 
to  which  he  had  recourse  in  his  first  voyage  of  discovery. 

During  an  interval  of  many  years  we  have  but  one  or  two 
shadowy  traces  of  Columbus.  He  is  supposed  to  have  been 
principally  engaged  on  the  Mediterranean  and  up  the  Levant ; 
sometimes  in  commercial  voyages;  sometimes  in  the  warlike 
contests  between  the  Italian  states ;  sometimes  in  pious  and  pre¬ 
datory  expeditions  against  the  Infidels.  Historians  have  made 
him  in  1474  captain  of  several  Genoese  ships,  in  the  service  of 
Louis  XI.  of  France,  and  endangering  the  peace  between  that 
country  and  Spain  by  running  down  and  capturing  Spanish 
vessels  at  sea,  on  his  own  responsibility,  as  a  reprisal  for  an 
irruption  of  the  Spaniards  into  Roussillon.!  Again,  in  1475,  he 
is  represented  as  brushing  with  his  Genoese  squadron  in  ruffling 

*  Colenuccio,  Istoria  de  Nap.  lib.  vii.  cap.  17. 

t  Letter  of  Columbus  to  the  Catholic  sovereigns,  vide  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  4> 

tChaufepie  Suppl.  to  Bayie,  vol.  ii.;  article  “Columbus.” 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS . 


23 


bravado  by  a  Venetian  fleet  stationed  off  the  island  of  Cyprus, 
shouting  “Viva  San  Georgio!”  the  old  war-cry  of  Genoa,  thus 
endeavoring  to  pique  the  jealous  pride  of  the  Venetians  and 
provoke  a  combat,  though  the  rival  republics  were  at  peace  at 
the  time. 

These  transactions,  however,  have  been  erroneously  attri¬ 
buted  to  Columbus.  They  were  the  deeds,  or  misdeeds,  either 
of  his  relative  the  old  Genoese  admiral,  or  of  a  nephew  of  the 
same,  of  kindred  spirit,  called  Colombo  the  Younger,  to  distin¬ 
guish  him  from  his  uncle.  They  both  appear  to  have  been  fond 
of  rough  encounters,  and  not  very  scrupulous  as  to  the  mode  of 
bringing  them  about.  Fernando  Columbus  describes  this  Co¬ 
lombo  the  Younger  as  a  famous  corsair,  so  terrible  for  his  deeds 
against  the  Infidels,  that  the  Moorish  mothers  used  to  frighten 
their  unruly  children  with  his  name.  Columbus  sailed  with  him 
occasionally,  as  he  had  done  with  his  uncle,  and,  according  to 
Fernando’s  account,  commanded  a  vessel  in  his  squadron  on 
an  eventful  occasion. 

Colombo  the  Younger,  having  heard  that  four  Venetian  gal¬ 
leys  richly  laden  were  on  their  return  voyage  from  Flanders, 
lay  in  wait  for  them  on  the  Portuguese  coast,  between  Lisbon 
and  Cape  St.  Vincent.  A  desperate  engagement  took  place ;  the 
vessels  grappled  each  other,  and  the  crews  fought  hand  to  hand, 
and  from  ship  to  ship.  The  battle  lasted  from  morning  until 
evening,  with  great  carnage  on  both  sides.  The  vessel  com¬ 
manded  by  Columbus  was  engaged  with  a  huge  Venetian  ga  lley. 
They  threw  hand-grenades  and  other  fiery  missiies,  and  the 
galley  was  wrapped  in  flames.  The  vessels  were  fastened  to¬ 
gether  by  chains  and  grappling  irons,  and  could  not  be  sepa¬ 
rated;  both  were  involved  in  one  conflagration,  and  soon  be¬ 
came  a  mere  blazing  mass.  The  crews  threw  themselves  into 
the  sea;  Columbus  seized  an  oar,  which  was  floating  within 
reach,  and  being  an  expert  swimmer,  attained  the  shore,  though 
full  two  leagues  distant.  It  pleased  God,  says  his  son  Fernando, 
to  give  him  strength,  that  he  might  preserve  him  for  greater 
tilings.  After  recovering  from  his  exhaustion  he  repaired  to 
Lisbon,  where  he  found  many  of  his  Genoese  countrymen,  and 
was  induced  to  take  up  his  residence.* 

Such  is  the  account  given  by  Fernando  of  his  father’s  first 
arrival  in  Portugal;  and  it  has  been  currently  adopted  by  mod- 


*  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  5.  See  illustrations  at  the  end  of  this  work,  article 
“  Capture  «f  the  Venetian  Galleys.” 


24 


LIFE  OF  CHRIST OFTIER  COLUMBUS. 


ern  historians;  but  on  examining  various  histories  of  the  times, 
the  battle  here  described  appears  to  have  happened  several 
years  after  the  date  of  the  arrival  of  Columbus  in  that  country. 
That  he  was  engaged  in  the  contest  is  not  improbable ;  but  he 
had  previously  resided  for  some  time  in  Portugal.  In  fact,  on 
referring  to  the  history  of  that  kingdom,  we  shall  find,  in  the 
great  maritime  enterprises  in  which  it  was  at  that  time  engaged, 
ample  attractions  for  a  person  of  his  inclinations  and  pursuits ; 
and  we  shall  be  led  to  conclude,  that  his  first  visit  to  Lisbon 
was  not  the  fortuitous  result  of  a  desperate  adventure,  but  was 
undertaken  in  a  spirit  of  liberal  curiosity,  and  in  the  pursuit 
of  honorable  fortune. 


CHAPTER  ni. 

PROGRESS  OF  DISCOVERY  UNDER  PRINCE  HENRY  OF  PORTUGAL. 

The  career  of  modem  discovery  had  commenced  shortly  be¬ 
fore  the  time  of  Columbus,  and  at  the  period  of  which  we  are 
treating  was  prosecuted  with  great  activity  by  Portugal.  Some 
have  attributed  its  origin  to  a  romantic  incident  in  the  four¬ 
teenth  century.  An  Englishman  of  the  name  of  Macharn,  fly¬ 
ing  to  France  with  a  lady  of  whom  he  was  enamored,  was  driven 
far  out  of  sight  of  land  by  stress  of  weather,  and  after  wandering 
about  the  high  seas,  arrived  at  an  unknown  and  uninhabited 
island,  covered  with  beautiful  forests,  which  was  afterward 
called  Madeira.*  Others  have  treated  this  account  as  a  fable, 
and  have  pronounced  the  Canaries  to  be  the  first  fruits  of  mod¬ 
ern  discovery.  This  famous  group,  the  Fortunate  Islands  of 
the  ancients,  in  which  they  placed  their  garden  of  the  Ilesperi- 
des,  and  whence  Ptolemy  commenced  to  count  the  longitude, 
had  been  long  lost  to  the  world.  There  are  vague  accounts,  it 
is  true,  of  their  having  received  casual  visits,  at  wide  intervals, 
during  the  obscure  ages,  from  the  wandering  bark  of  some  Ara¬ 
bian,  Norman,  or  Genoese  adventurer;  but  all  this  was  involved 
in  uncertainty,  and  led  to  no  beneficial  result.  It  was  not  un¬ 
til  the  fourteenth  century  that  they  were  effectually  redis¬ 
covered,  and  restored  to  mankind.  From  that  time  they  were 
occasionally  visited  by  the  hardy  navigators  of  various  coun- 


*  See  illustrations,  article  “  Discovery  of  Madeira.” 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


25 


tries.  The  greatest  benefit  produced  by  their  discovery  was, 
that  the  frequent  expeditions  made  to  them  emboldened  mari- 
ners  to  venture  far  upon  the  Atlantic,  and  familiarized  them, 
in  some  degree,  to  its  dangers. 

The  grand  impulse  to  discovery  was  not  given  by  chance,  but 
was  the  deeply  meditated  effort  of  one  master  mind.  This  was 
Prince  Henry  of  Portugal,  son  of  John  the  First,  surnamed  the 
Avenger,  and  Philippa,  of  Lancaster,  sister  of  Henry  the  Fourth 
of  England.  The  character  of  this  illustrious  man,  from  whose 
enterprises  the  genius  of  Columbus  took  excitement,  deserves 
particular  mention. 

Having  accompanied  his  father  into  Africa,  in  an  expedition 
against  the  Moors  at  Ceuta  he  received  much  information  con¬ 
cerning  the  coast  of  Guinea,  and  other  regions  in  the  interior, 
hitherto  unknown  to  Europeans,  and  conceived  an  idea  that 
important  discoveries  were  to  be  made  by  navigating  along  the 
western  coast  of  Africa.  On  returning  to  Portugal,  this  idea 
became  his  ruling  thought.  Withdrawing  from  the  tumult  of 
a  court  to  a  country  retreat  in  the  Algarves,  near  Sagres,  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Cape  St.  Vincent,  and  in  full  view  of  the  ocean, 
he  drew  around  him  men  eminent  in  science,  and  prosecuted 
the  study  of  those  branches  of  knowledge  connected  with  the 
maritime  arts.  He  was  an  able  mathematician,  and  made  him¬ 
self  master  of  all  the  astronomy  known  to  the  Arabians  of 
Spain. 

On  studying  the  works  of  the  ancients,  he  found  what  he  con¬ 
sidered  abundant  proofs  that  Africa  was  circumnavigable.  Eu¬ 
doxus  of  Cyzicus  was  said  to  have  sailed  from  the  Red  Sea  into 
the  ocean,  and  to  have  continued  on  to  Gibraltar ;  and  Hanno, 
the  Carthaginian,  sailing  from  Gibraltar  with  a  fleet  of  sixty 
ships,  and  following  the  African  coast,  was  said  to  have  reached 
the  shores  of  Arabia.*  It  is  true  these  voyages  had  been  dis¬ 
credited  by  several  ancient  writers,  and  the  possibility  of  cir¬ 
cumnavigating  Africa,  after  being  for  a  long  time  admitted  by 
geographers,  was  denied  by  Hipparchus,  who  considered  each 
sea  shut  up  and  land-bound  in  its  peculiar  basin ;  and  that  Africa 
was  a  continent  continuing  onward  to  the  south  pole,  and  sur¬ 
rounding  the  Indian  Sea,  so  as  to  join  Asia  beyond  the  Ganges. 
This  opinion  had  been  adopted  by  Ptolemy,  whose  works,  in 
the  time  of  Prince  Henry,  were  the  highest  authority  in  geog¬ 
raphy.  The  prince,  however,  clung  to  the  ancient  belief,  that 


*  See  illustrations,  article  “  Circumnavigation  of  Africa  by  the  Ancients.” 


26 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLiJMBUS. 


Africa  was  circumnavigable,  and  found  his  opinion  sanctioned 
by  various  learned  men  of  more  modern  date.  To  settle  this 
question,  and  achieve  the  circumnavigation  of  Africa,  was  an 
object  worthy  the  ambition  of  a  prince,  and  his  mind  was  fired 
with  the  idea  of  the  vast  benefits  that  would  arise  to  nis  country 
should  it  be  accomplished  by  Portuguese  enterprise. 

The  Italians,  or  Lombards  as  they  were  called  in  the  north  of 
Europe,  had  long  monopolized  the  trade  of  Asia.  They  had 
formed  connnercial  establishments  at  Constantinople  and  in  the 
Black  Sea,  where  they  received  the  rich  produce  of  the  Spice 
Islands,  lying  near  the  equator ;  and  the  silks,  the  gums,  the 
perfumes,  the  precious  stones,  and  other  luxurious  commodi¬ 
ties  of  Egypt  and  southern  Asia,  and  distributed  them  over  the 
whole  of  Europe.  The  republics  of  Venice  and  Genoa  rose  to 
opulence  and  power  in  consequence  of  this  trade.  They  had 
factories  in  the  most  remote  parts,  even  in  the  frozen  regions  of 
Moscovy  and  Norway.  Their  merchants  emulated  the  magnifi¬ 
cence  of  princes.  All  Europe  was  tributary  to  their  commerce. 
Yet  this  trade  had  to  pass  through  various  intermediate  hands, 
subject  to  the  delays  and  charges  of  internal  navigation,  and 
the  tedious  and  uncertain  journeys  of  the  caravan.  For  a  long 
time  the  merchandise  of  India  was  conveyed  by  the  Gulf  of 
Persia,  the  Euphrates,  the  Indus,  and  the  Oxus,  to  the  Caspian 
and  the  Mediterranean  seas ;  thence  to  take  a  new  destination 
for  the  various  marts  of  Europe.  After  the  Soldan  of  Egypt 
had  conquered  the  Arabs,  and  restored  trade  to  its  ancient 
channel,  it  was  still  attended  with  great  cost  and  delay.  Its 
precious  commodities  had  to  be  conveyed  by  the  Red  Sea ;  thence 
on  the  backs  of  camels  to  the  banks  of  the  Nile,  whence  they 
were  transported  to  Egypt  to  meet  the  Italian  merchants.  Thus, 
while  the  opulent  traffic  of  the  East  was  engrossed  by  these  ad¬ 
venturous  monopolists,  the  price  of  every  article  was  enhanced 
by  the  great  expense  of  transportation. 

r  It  was  the  grand  idea  of  Prince  Henry,  by  circumnavigating 
Africa  to  open  a  direct  and  easy  route  to  the  source  of  this  com¬ 
merce,  to  turn  it  in  a  golden  tide  upon  his  country.  He  was, 
however,  before  the  age  in  thought,  and  had  to  counteract  ig¬ 
norance  and  prejudice,  and  to  endure  the  delays  to  which  vivid 
and  penetrating  minds  are  subjected,  from  the  tardy  co-opera¬ 
tions  of  the  dull  and  the  doubtful.  The  navigation  of  the  At¬ 
lantic  was  yet  in  its  infancy.  Manners  looked  with  distrust 
upon  a  boisterous  expanse,  which  appeared  to  have  no  opposite 
shore,  and  feared  to  venture  out  of  sight  of  the  landmarks. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS \ 


27 


Every  bold  headland  and  far-stretching  promontory  was  a  wall 
to  bar  their  progress.  They  crept  timorously  along  the  Barbary 
shores,  and  thought  they  had  accomplished  c  wonderful  expe¬ 
dition  when  they  had  ventured  a  few  degrees  beyond  the  Straits 
of  Gibraltar.  Cape  Non  was  long  the  limit  of  their  daring; 
they  hesitated  to  double  its  rocky  point,  beaten  by  winds  and 
waves,  and  threatening  to  thrust  them  forth  upon  the  raging 
deep. 

Independent  of  these  vague  fears,  they  had  others,  sanctioned 
by  philosophy  itself.  They  still  thought  that  the  earth,  at  the 
equator,  was  girdled  by  a  torrid  zone,  over  wliich  the  sun  held 
his  vertical  and  fiery  course,  separating  the  hemispheres  by  a 
region  of  impassive  heat.  They  fancied  Cape  Bojador  the  ut¬ 
most  boundary  of  secure  enterprise,  and  had  a  superstitious  be¬ 
lief  that  whoever  doubled  it  would  never  return.*  They  looked 
with  dismay  upon  the  rapid  currents  of  its  neighborhood,  and 
the  furious  surf  which  beats  upon  its  arid  coast.  They  imagined 
that  beyond  it  lay  the  frightful  region  of  the  torrid  zone, 
scorched  by  a  blazing  sun;  a  region  of  fire,  where  the  very 
waves,  which  beat  upon  the  shores,  boiled  under  the  intolerable 
fervor  of  the  heavens. 

To  dispel  these  errors,  and  to  give  a  scope  to  navigation  equal 
to  the  grandeur  of  his  designs,  Prince  Henry  established  a 
naval  college,  and  erected  an  observatory  at  Sagres,  and  he  in¬ 
vited  thither  the  most  eminent  professors  of  the  nautical  facul¬ 
ties;  appointing  as  president  James  of  Mallorca,  a  man  learned 
ui  navigation,  and  skilful  in  making  charts  and  instruments. 

The  effects  of  this  establishment  were  soon  apparent.  All 
ihat  was  known  relative  to  geography  and  navigation  was 
gathered  together  and  reduced  to  system.  A  vast  improve¬ 
ment  took  place  in  maps,  The  compass  was  also  brought  into 
more  general  use,  especially  among  the  Portuguese,  rendering 
the  mariner  more  bold  and  venturous,  by  enabling  him  to  navi¬ 
gate  in  the  most  gloomy  day  and  in  the  darkest  night.  En 
couraged  by  these  advantages,  and  stimulated  by  the  munifi¬ 
cence  of  Prince  Henry,  the  Portuguese  marine  became  sig 
nalized  for  the  hardihood  of  its  enterprises  and  the  extent  ol 
its  discoveries.  Cape  Bojador  was  doubled,  the  region  of 
the  tropics  penetrated,  and  divested  of  its  fancied  terrors ;  the 
greater  part  of  the  African  coast,  from  Cape  Blanco  to  Cape  de 
Verde,  explored;  and  the  Cape  de  Verde  and  Azore  islands. 


*  Mariana,  Hist.  Esp.,  lib.  ii.  cap.  23. 


28 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


which  lay  three  hundred  leagues  distant  from  the  continent, 
were  rescued  from  the  oblivious  empire  of  the  ocean. 

To  secure  the  quiet  prosecution  and  full  enjoyment  of  his  dis^ 
coveries,  Henry  obtained  the  protection  of  a  papal  bull,  grant¬ 
ing  to  the  crown  of  Portugal  sovereign  authority  over  all  the 
lands  it  might  discover  in  the  Atlantic,  to  India  inclusive,  with 
plenary  indulgence  to  all  who  should  die  in  these  expeditions ; 
at  the  same  time  menacing,  with  the  terrors  of  the  church,  all 
who  should  interfere  in  these  Christian  conquests.  * 

Henry  died  on  the  13th  of  November,  1473,  without  accom¬ 
plishing  the  great  object  of  his  ambition.  It  was  not  until 
many  years  afterward  that  Yasco  de  Gama,  pursuing  with  a 
Portuguese  fleet  the  track  he  had  pointed  out,  realized  his  an¬ 
ticipations  by  doubling  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  sailing  along 
the  southern  coast  of  India,  and  thus  opening  a  highway  for 
commerce  to  the  opulent  regions  of  the  East.  Henry,  however, 
lived  long  enough  to  reap  some  of  the  richest  rewards  of  a  great 
and  good  mind.  He  beheld,  through  his  means,  his  native 
country  in  a  grand  and  active  career  of  prosperity.  The  dis¬ 
coveries  of  the  Portuguese  were  the  wonder  and  admiration  of 
the  fifteenth  century,  and  Portugal,  from  being  one  of  the  least 
among  nations,  suddenly  rose  to  be  one  of  the  most  important. 

All  this  was  effected,  not  by  arms,  but  by  arts ;  not  by  the 
stratagems  of  a  cabinet,  but  by  the  wisdom  of  a  college.  It  was 
the  great  achievement  of  a  prince,  who  has  well  been  described 
“full  of  thoughts  of  lofty  enterprise,  and  acts  of  generous 
spirit one  who  bore  for  his  device  the  magnanimous  motto, 
“The  talent  to  do  good,”  the  only  talent  worthy  the  ambition 
of  princes,  f 

Henry,  at  his  death,  left  it  in  charge  to  his  country  to  prose¬ 
cute  the  route  to  India.  He  had  formed  companies  and  associa¬ 
tions,  by  which  commeruial  zeal  was  enlisted  in  the  cause,  and 
it  was  made  a  matter  of  interest  and  competition  to  enterpris¬ 
ing  individuals,  t  From  time  to  time  Lisbon  was  thrown  into 
a  tumult  of  excitement  by  the  launching  forth  of  some  new 
expedition,  or  the  return  of  a  squadron  with  accounts  of  new 
tracts  explored  and  new  kingdoms  visited.  Everything  was 
confident  promise  and  sanguine  anticipation.  The  miserable 
hordes  of  the  African  coast  were  magnified  into  powerful  na¬ 
tions,  and  the  voyagers  continually  heard  of  opulent  countries 

—  ■  ■  ■  -  1  .  . .  - - — - ■ - '  - — V. 

*  Vasconcelos,  Hist,  de  Juan  II. 

+  Joam  de  Barros,  Asia,  decad.  i. 

%  Lafitau,  ConquStes  des  Portiyrais,  tom.  i.  lib.  I. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


29 


farther  on.  It  was  as  yet  the  twilight  of  geographic  knowl¬ 
edge  ;  imagination  went  hand  in  hand  with  discovery,  and  as 
the  latter  groped  its  slow  and  cautious  way,  the  former  peopled 
all  beyond  with  wonders.  The  fame  of  the  Portuguese  discov¬ 
eries,  and  of  the  expeditions  continually  setting  out,  drew  the 
attention  of  the  world.  Strangers  from  all  parts,  the  learned, 
the  curious,  and  the  adventurous,  resorted  to  Lisbon  to  inquire 
into  the  particulars  or  to  participate  in  the  advantages  of  these 
enterprises.  Among  these  was  Christopher  Columbus,  whether 
thrown  there,  as  has  been  asserted,  by  the  fortuitous  result  of 
a  desperate  adventure,  or  drawn  thither  by  liberal  curiosity  and 
the  pursuit  of  honorable  fortune.* 


CHAPTEK  IV. 

RESIDENCE  OF  COLUMBUS  AT  LISBON — IDEAS  CONCERNING  ISL¬ 
ANDS  IN  THE  OCEAN. 

Columbus  arrived  at  Lisbon  about  the  year  1470.  He  was  at 
that  time  in  the  full  vigor  of  manhood,  and  of  an  engaging 
presence.  Minute  descriptions  are  given  of  his  person  by  his 
son  Fernando,  by  Las  Casas,  and  others  of  his  contemporaries,  f 
According  to  these  accounts,  he  was  tall,  well-formed,  muscu¬ 
lar,  and  of  an  elevated  and  dignified  demeanor.  His  visage  was 
long,  and  neither  full  nor  meagre ;  his  complexion  fair  and 
freckled,  and  inclined  to  ruddy  ;  his  nose  aquiline  ;  his  cheek¬ 
bones  were  rather  high,  his  eyes  light  gray,  and  apt  to  enkin¬ 
dle  ;  his  whole  countenance  had  an  air  of  authority.  His  hair, 
in  his  youthful  days,  was  of  a  light  color ;  but  care  and  trouble, 
according  to  Las  Casas,  soon  turned  it  gray,  and  at  thirty  years 
of  age  it  was  quite  white.  He  was  moderate  and  simple  in  diet 
and  apparel,  eloquent  in  discourse,  engaging  and  affable  with 
strangers,  and  his  amiableness  and  suavity  in  domestic  life 
strongly  attached  his  household  to  his  person.  His  temper  was 
naturally  irritable  ;  J  but  he  subdued  it  by  the  magnanimity  of 
his  spirit,  comporting  himself  with  a  courteous  and  gentle 
gravity,  and  never  indulging  in  any  intemperance  of  language. 


*  Herrera,  decad.  i.  lib.  i. 

t  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  8.  Las  Casas,  Hist.  Ind.  lib.  i.  cap.  8  MS, 
j  Illeecae,  Hist.  Pontifical,  fib.  yi. 


so 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPH  EE  COLE  MR  VS, 


Throughout  his  life  he  was  noted  for  strict  attention  to  the 
offices  of  religion,  observing  rigorously  the  fasts  and  ceremo- 
nies  of  the  church ;  nor  did  his  piety  consist  in  mere  forms,  but 
partook  of  that  lofty  and  solemn  enthusiasm  with  which  his 
whole  character  was  strongly  tinctured. 

While  at  Lisbon,  he  was  accustomed  to  attend  religious  ser¬ 
vice  at  the  chapel  of  the  convent  of  All  Saints.  In  this  convent 
were  certain  ladies  of  rank,  either  resident  as  boarders,  or  in 
some  religious  capacity.  With  one  of  these  Columbus  became 
acquainted.  She  was  Dona  Felipa,  daughter  of  Bartolomeo 
Monis  de  Perestrello,  an  Italian  cavalier,  lately  deceased,  who 
had  been  one  of  the  most  distinguished  navigators  under  Prince 
Henry,  and  had  colonized  and  governed  the  island  of  Porto 
Santo.  The  acquaintance  soon  ripened  into  attachment,  and 
ended  in  marriage.  It  appears  to  have  been  a  match  of  mere 
affection,  as  the  lady  was  destitute  of  fortune. 

The  newly  married  couple  resided  with  the  mother  of  the 
bride.  The  latter,  perceiving  the  interest  which  Columbus  took 
in  all  matters  concerning  the  sea,  related  to  him  all  she  knew 
of  the  voyages  and  expeditions  of  her  late  husband,  and  brought 
him  all  his  papers,  charts,  journals,  and  memorandums.*  In 
this  way  he  became  acquainted  with  the  routes  of  the  Portu¬ 
guese,  their  plans  and  conceptions;  and  having,  by  his  mar¬ 
riage  and  residence,  become  naturalized  in  Portugal,  he  sailed 
occasionally  in  the  expeditions  to  the  coast  of  Guinea.  When 
on  shore,  he  supported  his  family  by  making  maps  and  charts. 
His  narrow  circumstances  obliged  him  to  observe  a  strict  econ¬ 
omy  ;  yet  we  are  told  that  he  appropriated  a  part  of  his  scanty 
means  to  the  succor  of  his  aged  father  at  Genoa,  f  and  to  the 
education  of  his  younger  brothers.  } 

The  construction  of  a  correct  map  or  chart,  in  those  days,  re¬ 
quired  a  degree  of  knowledge  and  experience  sufficient  to  enti¬ 
tle  the  possessor  to  distinction.  Geography  was  but  just  emerg¬ 
ing  from  the  darkness  which  had  enveloped  it  for  ages.  Ptole¬ 
my  was  still  a  standard  authority.  The  maps  of  the  fifteenth 
century  display  a  mixture  of  truth  and  error,  in  which  facts 
handed  down  from  antiquity,  and  others  revealed  by  recent 
discoveries,  are  confused  with  popular  fables  and  extravagant 
conjectures.  At  such  a  period,  when  the  passion  for  maritime 
discovery  was  seeking  every  aid  to  facilitate  its  enterprises,  the 

■  '  ■  w»——  - - 1 — — — ~  ■  -  '  ■  ~  --  "  ■  '  -■  -  ■  ■■ 

*  Oviedo,  Croniea  de  las  Indias,  lib.  ii.  cap.  2. 

t  Ibid. 

t  Mufioz  Hist.  Nuevo  Mundo,  lib.  iL 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


31 


knowledge  and  skill  of  an  able  cosmographer  like  Columbus 
would  be  properly  appreciated,  and  the  superior  correctness  of 
his  maps  and  charts  would  give  him  notoriety  among  men  of 
science.*  We  accordingly  find  him,  at  an  early  period  of  his 
residence  in  Lisbon,  in  correspondence  with  Paulo  Toscanelli, 
of  Florence,  one  of  the  most  scientific  men  of  the  day,  whose 
communications  had  great  influence  in  inspiriting  him  to  his 
subsequent  undertakings. 

While  his  geographical  labors  thus  elevated  him  to  a  commun¬ 
ion  with  the  learned,  they  were  peculiarly  calculated  to  foster 
a  train  of  thoughts  favorable  to  nautical  enterprise.  From  con¬ 
stantly  comparing  maps  and  charts,  and  noting  the  progress 
and  direction  of  discovery,  he  was  led  to  perceive  how  much 
of  the  world  remained  unknown,  and  to  meditate  on  the  means 
of  exploring  it.  His  domestic  concerns,  and  the  connections 
he  had  formed  by  marriage,  were  all  in  unison  with  this  vein 
of  speculation.  He  resided  for  some  time  at  the  recently  dis¬ 
covered  island  of  Porto  Santo,  where  his  wife  had  inherited 
some  property,  and  during  his  residence  there  she  bore  him  a 
son,  whom  he  named  Diego.  This  residence  brought  him,  as  it 
were,  on  the  very  frontier  of  discovery.  His  wife’s  sister  was 
married  to  Pedro  Correo,  a  navigator  of  note,  who  had  at  one 
time  been  governor  of  Porto  Santo.  Being  frequently  together 
in  the  familiar  intercourse  of  domestic  life,  their  conversation 
naturally  turned  upon  the  discoveries  prosecuting  in  their 
vicinity  along  the  African  coasts;  upon  the  long  sought  for 
route  to  India ;  and  upon  the  possibility  of  some  unknown  lands 
existing  in  the  west. 

In  their  island  residence,  too,  they  must  have  been  frequent¬ 
ly  visited  by  the  voyagers  going  to  and  from  Guinea.  Living 
thus,  surrounded  by  the  stir  and  bustle  of  discovery,  commun¬ 
ing  with  persons  who  had  risen  by  it  to  fortune  and  honor,  and 


*  The  importance  which  began  to  be  attached  to  cosmographical  knowledge  is 
evident  from  the  distinction  which  Mauro,  an  Italian  friar,  obtained  from  having 
projected  an  universal  map,  esteemed  the  most  accurate  of  the  time.  A  fac-simile 
of  this  map,  upon  the  same  scale  as  the  original,  is  now  deposited  in  the  British 
Museum,  and  it  has  been  published,  with  a  geographical  commentary,  by  the 
learned  Zuida.  The  Venetians  struck  a  medal  in  honor  of  him,  on  which  they  de- 
nominated  him  Cosmographus  incomparabilis  (Colline  del  Bussol.  Naut.  p.  2,  c.  5). 
Yet  Ramusio,  who  had  seen  this  map  in  the  monastery  of  San  Michele  de  Murano, 
considers  it  merely  an  improved  copy  of  a  map  brought  from  Cathay  by  Marco  Polo 
(Ramusio,  t.  ii.  p.17,  Ed.  Venet.  1606).  Wearetold  that  AmericusVespuciuspaid  one 
hundred  and  thirty  ducats  (equivalent  to  five  hundred  and  fifty-five  dollars  in  our 
time)  for  a  map  of  sea  and  land,  made  at  Mallorca,  in  1430,  by  Gabriel  de  Valseoq 
(Barros,  D,  1.  i,  c.  15.  Derroto  por  Tofino,  Introd.  p.  25). 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


voyaging  in  the  very  tracks  of  its  recent  triumphs,  the  ar&em 
mind  of  Columbus  kindled  up  to  enthusiasm  in  the  cause,  it 
was  a  period  of  general  excitement  to  all  who  were  connected 
with  maritime  life,  or  who  resided  in  the  vicinity  of  the  ocean. 
The  recent  discoveries  had  inflamed  their  imaginations,  and 
had  filled  them  with  visions  of  other  islands,  of  greater  wealth 
and  beauty,  yet  to  be  discovered  in  the  boundless  wastes  of  the 
Atlantic.  The  opinions  and  fancies  of  the  ancients  on  the  suh 
ject  were  again  put  in  circulation.  The  story  of  Antilla,  a 
great  island  in  the  ocean,  discovered  by  the  Carthaginians,  was 
frequently  cited,  and  Plato’s  imaginary  Atalantis  once  more 
found  firm  believers.  Many  thought  that  the  Canaries  and 
Azores  were  but  wrecks  which  had  survived  its  submersion, 
and  that  other  and  larger  fragments  of  that  drowned  land 
might  yet  exist,  in  remoter  parts  of  the  Atlantic. 

One  of  the  strongest  symptoms  of  the  excited  state  of  the 
popular  mind  at  this  eventful  era,  was  the  prevalence  of  rumors 
respecting  unknown  islands  casually  seen  in  the  ocean.  Many 
of  these  were  mere  fables,  fabricated  to  feed  the  predominant 
humor  of  the  public;  many  had  their  origin  in  the  heated 
imaginations  of  voyagers,  beholding  islands  in  those  summer 
clouds  which  lie  along  the  horizon,  and  often  beguile  the  sailor 
with  the  idea  of  distant  lands. 

On  such  airy  basis,  most  probably,  was  founded  the  story 
told  to  Columbus  by  one  Antonio  Leone,  an  inhabitant  of 
Madeira,  who  affirmed  that  sailing  thence  westward  one 
hundred  leagues,  he  had  seen  three  islands  at  a  distance.  But 
the  tales  ot  the  kind  most  positively  advanced  and  zealously 
maintained,  were  those  related  by  the  people  of  the  Canaries, 
who  were  long  under  a  singular  optical  delusion.  They  imag¬ 
ined  that,  from  time  to  time,  they  beheld  a  vast  island  to  the 
westward,  with  lofty  mountains  and  deep  valleys.  Nor  was  it 
seen  in  cloudy  and  dubious  weather,  but  in  those  clear  days 
common  to  tropical  climates,  and  with  all  the  distinctness  with 
which  distant  objects  may  be  discerned  in  their  pure,  trans¬ 
parent  atmosphere.  The  island,  it  is  true,  was  only  seen  at 
intervals ;  while  at  other  times,  and  in  the  clearest  weather, 
not  a  vestige  of  it  was  to  be  descried.  When  it  did  appear, 
however,  it  was  always  in  the  same  place,  and  under  the  same 
form.  So  persuaded  were  the  inhabitants  of  the  Canaries  of 
its  reality,  that  application  was  made  to  the  King  of  Portugal 
for  permission  to  discover  and  take  possession  of  it ;  and  it 
actually  became  the  object  of  several  expeditions.  The  island, 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


33 


however,  was  never  to  be  found,  though  it  still  continued 
occasionally  to  cheat  the  eye.  There  were  all  kinds  of  wild 
and  fantastic  notions  concerning  this  imaginary  land.  Some 
supposed  it  to  be  the  Antilla  mentioned  by  Aristotle ;  others, 
the  Island  of  Seven  Cities,  so  called  from  an  ancient  legend  of 
seven  bishops,  who,  with  a  multitude  of  followers,  fled  from 
Spain  at  the  time  of  its  conquest  by  the  Moors,  and,  guided  by 
Heaven  to  some  unknown  island  in  the  ocean,  founded  on  it 
seven  splendid  cities.  While  some  considered  it  another  legen¬ 
dary  island,  on  which,  it  was  said,  a  Scottish  priest  of  the  name 
of  St.  Brandan,  had  landed  in  the  sixth  century.  This  last 
legend  passed  into  current  belief.  The  fancied  island  was 
called  by  the  name  of  St.  Brandan,  or  St.  Borondon,  and  long 
continued  to  be  actually  laid  down  in  maps  far  to  the  west 
of  the  Canaries.*  The  same  was  done  with  the  fabulous  island 
of  Antilla;  and  these  erroneous  maps  and  phantom  islands' 
have  given  rise  at  various  times  to  assertions  that  the  New 
World  had  been  known  prior  to  the  period  of  its  generally 
reputed  discovery. 

Columbus,  however,  considers  all  these  appearances  of  land 
as  mere  illusions.  He  supposes  that  they  may  have  been 
caused  by  rocks  lying  in  the  ocean,  which,  seen  at  a  distance, 
under  certain  atmospherical  influences  may  have  assumed  the 
appearance  of  islands ;  or  that  they  may  have  been  floating 
islands,  such  as  are  mentioned  by  Pliny  and  Seneca  and  others, 
formed  of  twisted  roots,  or  of  a  light  and  porous  stone,  and 
covered  with  trees,  and  which  may  have  been  driven  about  the 
ocean  by  the  winds. 

The  islands  of  St.  Brandan,  of  Antilla,  and  of  the  Seven 
Cities,  have  long  since  proved  to  be  fabulous  tales  of  atmos¬ 
pherical  delusions.  Yet  the  rumors  concerning  them  dAHve 
interest,  from  showing  the  state  of  public  thought  with  respect 
to  the  Atlantic,  while  its  western  regions  were  yet  unknown. 
They  were  all  noted  down  with  curious  care  by  Columbus,  and 
may  have  had  some  influence  over  his  imagination.  Still, 
though  of  a  visionary  spirit,  his  penetrating  genius  sought  in 
deeper  sources  for  the  aliment  of  its  meditations.  Aroused  by 
the  impulse  of  passing  events,  he  turned  anew,  says  his  son 
Fernando,  to  study  the  geographical  authors  which  he  had 
read  before,  and  to  consider  the  astronomical  reasons  which 
might  corroborate  the  theory  gradually  forming  in  his  mind. 


*  See  illustrations,  article  “Island  of  St.  Brandan.” 


34 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


He  made  himself  acquainted  with  all  that  had  been  written  by 
the  ancients,  or  discovered  by  the  moderns,  relative  to  geog¬ 
raphy.  His  own  voyages  enabled  him  to  correct  many  of  their 
errors,  and  appreciate  many  of  their  theories.  His  genius 
having  thus  taken  its  decided  bent,  it  is  interesting  to  notice 
from  what  a  mass  of  acknowledged  facts,  rational  hypotheses, 
fanciful  narrations,  and  popular  rumors,  his  grand  project  of 
discovery  was  wrought  out  by  the  strong  workings  of  Ills  vig 
orous  mind. 


CHAPTER  V. 

GROUNDS  ON  WHICH  COLUMBUS  FOUNDED  HIS  BELIEF  OF  THE 
EXISTENCE  OF  UNDISCOVERED  LANDS  IN  THE  WEST. 

It  lias  been  attempted,  in  the  preceding  chapters,  to  show 
how  Columbus  was  gradually  kindled  up  to  his  grand  design 
by  the  spirit  and  events  of  the  times  in  which  he  lived.  His 
son  Fernando,  however,  undertakes  to  furnish  the  precise 
data  on  which  his  father’s  plan  of  discovery  was  founded.* 
“He  does  this,”  he  observes,  “to  show  from  what  slender 
argument  so  great  a  scheme  was  fabricated  and  brought  to 
light ;  and  for  the  purpose  of  satisfying  those  who  may  desire 
to  know  distinctly  the  circumstances  and  motives  which  led 
his  father  to  undertake  this  enterprise.  ” 

As  this  statement  was  formed  from  notes  and  documents 
found  among  his  father’s  papers,  it  is  too  curious  and  interest¬ 
ing  not  to  deserve  particular  mention.  In  this  memorandum 
he  arranged  the  foundation  of  his  father’s  theory  under  three 
heads :  1.  The  nature  of  things.  2.  The  authority  of  learned 
writers.  3.  The  reports  of  navigators. 

Under  the  first  head  he  set  down  as  a  fundamental  principle 
that  the  earth  was  a  terraqueous  sphere  or  globe,  which  might 
be  travelled  round  from  east  to  west,  and  that  men  stood  foot 
to  foot  when  on  opposite  points.  The  circ  amference  from  east 
to  west,  at  the  equator,  Columbus  divided,  according  to  Ptole¬ 
my,  into  twenty-four  hours  of  fifteen  degrees  each,  making 
three  hundred  and  sixty  degrees.  Of  these  he  imagined,  com¬ 
paring  the  globe  of  Ptolemy  with  the  earlier  map  of  Marinus  of 


*  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  6,  7,  8. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


35 


Tyre,  that  fifteen  hours  had  been  known  to  the  ancients, 
extending  from  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar,  or  rather  from  the 
Canary  Islands,  to  the  city  of  Thinse  in  Asia,  a  place  set  down 
as  at  the  eastern  limits  of  the  known  world.  The  Portuguese 
had  advanced  the  western  frontier  one  hour  more  by  the  dis¬ 
covery  of  the  Azores  and  Cape  de  Verde  Islands.  There 
remained,  then,  according  to  the  estimation  of  Columbus,  eight 
hours,  or  one  third  of  the  circumference  of  the  earth,  unknown 
and  unexplored.  This  space  might,  in  a  great  measure,  be 
filled  up  by  the  eastern  regions  of  Asia,  which  might  extend  so 
far  as  nearly  to  surround  the  globe,  and  to  approach  the 
western  shores  of  Europe  and  Africa.  The  tract  of  ocean  inter¬ 
vening  between  these  countries,  he  observes,  would  be  less  than 
might  at  first  be  supposed,  if  the  opinion  of  Alfraganus,  the 
Arabian,  were  admitted,  who,  by  diminishing  the  size  of  the 
degrees,  gave  to  the  earth  a  smaller  circumference  than  did 
other  cosmographers ;  a  theory  to  which  Columbus  seems  at 
tunes  to  have  given  faith.  Granting  these  premises,  it  was 
manifest  that,  by  pursuing  a  direct  course  from  east  to  west,  a 
navigator  would  arrive  at  the  extremity  of  Asia,  and  discover 
any  intervening  land. 

Under  the  second  head  are  named  the  authors  whose  writings 
had  weight  in  convincing  him  that  the  intervening  ocean  could 
be  but  of  moderate  expanse,  and  easy  to  be  traversed.  Among 
these,  he  cites  the  opinion  of  Aristotle,  Seneca,  and  Pliny,  that 
one  might  pass  from  Cadiz  to  the  Indies  in  a  few  days;  of 
Strabo,  also,  who  observes,  that  the  ocean  surrounds  the  earth, 
bathing  on  the  east  the  shores  of  India ;  on  the  west,  the  coasts 
of  Spain  and  Mauritania ;  so  that  it  is  easy  to  navigate  from 
one  to  the  other  on  the  same  parallel.* 

In  corroboration  of  the  idea  that  Asia,  or,  as  he  always  terms 
it,  India,  stretched  far  to  the  east,  so  as  to  occupy  the  greater 
part  of  the  unexplored  space,  the  narratives  are  cited  of  Marco 
Polo  and  John  Mandeville.  These  travellers  had  visited,  in  the 
thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries,  the  remote  parts  of  Asia, 
far  beyond  the  regions  laid  down  by  Ptolemy;  and  their 
accounts  of  the  extent  of  that  continent  to  the  eastward  had  a 
great  effect  in  convincing  Columbus  that  a  voyage  to  the 
west,  of  no  long  duration,  would  bring  him  to  its  shores,  or  to 
the  extensive  and  wealthy  islands  which  lie  adjacent.  The  in¬ 
formation  concerning  Marco  Polo  is  probably  derived  from 


*  Strab.  Cos.  lib.  i.  ii. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


S6 

Paulo  Toscanelli,  a  celebrated  doctor  of  Florence,  already  men¬ 
tioned,  with  whom  Columbus  corresponded  in  1474,  and  who 
transmitted  to  him  a  copy  of  a  letter  which  he  had  previously 
written  to  Fernando  Martinez,  a  learned  canon  of  Lisbon. 
This  letter  maintains  the  facility  of  arriving  at  India  by  a 
western  course,  asserting  the  distance  to  be  but  four  thousand 
miles,  in  a  direct  line  from  Lisbon  to  the  province  of  Mangi, 
near  Cathay,  since  determined  to  be  the  northern  coast  of 
China.  Of  this  country  he  gives  a  magnificent  description, 
drawn  from  the  work  of  Marco  Polo.  He  adds,  that  in  the 
route  lay  the  islands  of  Antilla  and  Cipango,  distant  from  each 
other  only  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  leagues,  abounding  in 
riches,  and  offering  convenient  places  for  ships  to  touch  at,  and 
obtain  supplies  on  the  voyage. 

Under  the  third  head  are  enumerated  various  indications  of 
land  in  the  west,  which  had  floated  to  the  shores  of  the  known 
world.  It  is  curious  to  observe,  how,  when  once  the  mind  of 
Columbus  had  become  heated  in  the  inquiry,  it  attracted  to  it 
every  corroborating  circumstance,  however  vague  and  trivial. 
He  appears  to  have  been  particularly  attentive  to  the  gleams 
of  information  derived  from  veteran  mariners,  who  had  been 
employed  in  the  recent  voyages  to  the  African  coasts ;  and  also 
from  the  inhabitants  of  lately  discovered  islands,  placed,  in  a 
manner,  on  the  frontier  posts  of  geographical  knowledge.  All 
these  are  carefully  noted  down  among  his  memorandums,  to  be 
collocated  with  the  facts  and  opinions  already  stored  up  in  his 
mind. 

Such,  for  instance,  is  the  circumstance  related  to  him  by 
Martin  Yicenti,  a  pilot  in  the  service  of  the  King  of  Portugal; 
that,  after  sailing  four  hundred  and  fifty  leagues  to  the  west 
of  Cape  St.  Vincent,  he  had  taken  from  the  water  a  piece  of 
carved  wood,  which  evidently  had  not  been  labored  with  an 
iron  instrument.  As  the  winds  had  drifted  it  from  the  west, 
it  might  have  come  from  some  unknown  land  in  that  direction. 

Pedro  Correo,  brother-in-law  of  Columbus,  is  likewise  cited, 
as  having  seen,  on  the  island  of  Porto  Santo,  a  similar  piece  of 
wood,  which  had  drifted  from  the  same  quarter.  He  had  heard 
also  from  the  King  of  Portugal,  that  reeds  of  an  immense  size 
had  floated  to  some  of  those  islands  from  the  west,  in  the  de¬ 
scription  of  which,  Columbus  thought  he  recognized  the  im¬ 
mense  reeds  said  by  Ptolemy  to  grow  in  India. 

Information  is  likewise  noted,  given  him  by  the  inhabitants  of 
the  Azores,  of  trunks  of  huge  pme  trees,  of  a  kind  that  did  not 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


37 


grow  upon  any  of  the  islands,  wafted  to  their  shores  by  the 
westerly  winds ;  but  especially  of  the  bodies  of  two  dead  men, 
cast  upon  the  island  of  Flores,  whose  features  differed  from 
those  of  any  known  race  of  people. 

To  these  is  added  the  report  of  a  mariner  of  the  port  of  St. 
Mary,  who  asserted  that,  in  the  course  of  a  voyage  to  Ireland, 
he  had  seen  land  to  the  west,  which  the  ship’s  company  took 
for  some  extreme  part  of  Tartary.  Other  stories,  of  a  similar 
kind,  are  noted,  as  well  as  rumors  concerning  the  fancied 
islands  of  St.  Brandan,  and  of  the  Seven  Cities,  to  which,  as 
has  already  been  observed,  Columbus  gave  but  little  faith. 

Such  is  an  abstract  of  the  grounds,  on  which,  according  to 
Fernando,  his  father  proceeded  from  one  position  to  another 
until  he  came  to  the  conclusion  that  there  was  undiscovered 
land  in  the  western  part  of  the  ocean ;  that  it  was  attainable ; 
that  it  was  fertile ;  and  finally,  that  it  was  inhabited. 

It  is  evident  that  several  of  the  facts  herein  enumerated 
must  have  become  known  to  Columbus  after  he  had  formed  his 
opinion,  and  merely  served  to  strengthen  it;  still,  everything 
that  throws  any  light  upon  the  process  of  thought,  which  led 
to  so  great  an  event,  is  of  the  highest  interest ;  and  the  chain  of 
deductions  here  furnished,  though  not  perhaps  the  most  logical 
in  its  concatenation,  yet,  being  extracted  from  the  papers  of 
Columbus  himself,  remains  one  of  the  most  interesting  docu¬ 
ments  in  the  history  of  the  human  mind. 

On  considering  the  statement  attentively,  it  is  apparent  that 
the  grand  argument  which  induced  Columbus  to  his  enterprise 
was  that  placed  under  the  first  head,  namely,  that  the  most 
eastern  part  of  Asia  known  to  the  ancients  could  not  be  sepa¬ 
rated  from  the  Azores  by  more  than  a  third  of  the  circumfer¬ 
ence  of  the  globe ;  that  the  intervening  space  must,  in  a  great 
measure,  be  filled  up  by  tli£  unknown  residue  of  Asia ;  and  that, 
if  the  circumference  of  the  world  was,  as  he  believed,  less  than 
was  generally  supposed,  the  Asiatic  shores  could  easily  be  at¬ 
tained  by  a  moderate  voyage  to  the  west. 

It  is  singular  how  much  the  success  of  this  great  undertaking* 
depended  upon  two  happy  errors,  the  imaginary  extent  of 
Asia  to  the  east,  and  the  supposed  smallness  of  the  earth '  both 
errors  of  the  most  learned  and  profound  philosophers,  but  with¬ 
out  which  Columbus  would  hardly  have  ventured  upon  his  en¬ 
terprise.  As  to  the  idea  of  finding  land  by  sailing  directly  to 
the  west,  it  is  at  present  so  familiar  to  our  minds,  as  in  some 
measure  to  diminish  the  merits  of  the  first  conception,  and  the 


38 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


hardihood  of  the  first  attempt;  but  in  those  days,  as  has  been 
observed,  the  circumference  of  the  earth  was  yet  unknown ;  no 
one  could  tell  whether  the  ocean  were  not  of  immense  extent, 
impossible  to  be  traversed ;  nor  were  the  laws  of  specific  grav¬ 
ity  and  of  central  gravitation  ascertained,  by  which,  granting 
the  rotundity  of  the  earth,  the  possibility  of  making  the  tour 
of  it  would  be  manifest.*  The  practicability,  therefore,  of  find¬ 
ing  land  by  sailing  to  the  west,  was  one  of  those  mysteries  of 
nature  which  are  considered  incredible  while  matters  of  mere 
speculation,  but  the  simplest  things  imaginable  when  they  have 
once  been  ascertained. 

When  Columbus  had  formed  his  theory,  it  became  fixed  in 
his  mind  with  singular  firmness,  and  influenced  his  entire 
character  and  conduct.  He  never  spoke  in  doubt  or  hesitation, 
but  with  as  much  certainty  as  if  his  eyes  had  beheld  the  prom¬ 
ised  land.  No  trial  nor  disappointment  could  divert  him  from 
the  steady  pursuit  of  his  object.  A  deep  religious  sentiment 
mingled  with  his  meditations,  and  gave  them  at  times  a  tinge 
of  superstition,  but  it  was  of  a  sublime  and  lofty  kind;  he 
looked  upon  himself  as  standing  in  the  hand  of  Heaven,  chosen 
from  among  men  for  the  accomplishment  of  its  high  purpose ; 
he  read,  as  he  supposed,  his  contemplated  discovery  foretold  in 
Holy  Writ,  and  shadowed  forth  darkly  in  the  mystic  revela¬ 
tions  of  the  prophets.  The  ends  of  the  earth  were  to  be  brought 
together,  and  all  nations  and  tongues  and  languages  united 
under  the  banners  of  the  Redeemer.  This  was  to  be  the  trium¬ 
phant  consummation  of  his  enterprise,  bringing  the  remote  and 
unknown  regions  of  the  earth  into  communion  with  Christian 
Europe ;  carrying  the  light  of  the  true  faith  into  benighted  and 
pagan  lands,  and  gathering  their  countless  nations  under  the 
holy  dominion  of  the  church. 

Hie  enthusiastic  nature  of  his  conceptions  gave  an  elevation 
to  his  spirit,  and  a  dignity  and  loftiness  to  his  whole  demeanor. 
He  conferred  with  sovereigns  almost  with  a  feeling  of  equality. 
His  views  were  princely  and  unbounded ;  his  proposed  discov- 
"'y  was  of  empires;  his  conditions  were  proportionally  magni¬ 
ficent;  nor  would  he  ever,  even  after  long  delays,  repeated 
disappointments,  and  imder  the  pressure  of  actual  penury, 
abate  what  appeared  to  be  extravagant  demands  for  a  mer^ 
possible  discovery. 


*  Malte-Brun,  Geographic  UniverseJle,  tom.  xiv.  Note  sur  le  Decouverte  ^ 
l’Amerlque. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


39 


Those  who  could  not  conceive  how  an  ardent  and  comprehen¬ 
sive  genius  could  arrive,  by  presumptive  evidence,  at  so  firm 
a  conviction,  sought  for  other  modes  of  accounting  for  it. 
When  the  glorious  result  had  established  the  correctness  of 
the  opinion  of  Columbus,  attempts  were  made  to  prove  that  he 
had  obtained  previous  information  of  the  lands  which  he  pre¬ 
tended  to  discover.  Among  these  was  an  idle  tale  of  a  tempest- 
tossed  pilot,  said  to  have  died  in  his  house,  bequeathing  him 
written  accounts  of  an  unknown  land  in  the  west,  upon  which 
he  had  been  driven  by  adverse  winds.  This  story,  according 
to  Fernando  Columous,  nad  no  other  foundation  than  one  of 
the  popular  tales  about  the  shadowy  island  of  St.  Brandan, 
which  a  Portuguese  captain,  returning  from  Guinea,  fancied 
he  had  beheld  beyond  Madeira.  It  circulated  for  a  time  in  idle 
rumor,  altered  and  shaped  to  suit  their  purposes,  by  such  as 
sought  to  tarnish  the  glory  of  Columbus.  At  length  it  found 
its  way  into  print,  and  has  been  echoed  by  various  historians, 
varying  with  every  narration,  and  full  of  contradictions  and 
improbabilities.  * 

An  assertion  has  also  been  made,  that  Columbus  was  pre¬ 
ceded  in  his  discoveries  by  Martin  Behem,  a  contemporary  cos- 
mographer,  who,  it  was  said,  had  landed  accidentally  on  the 
coast  of  South  America,  in  the  course  of  an  African  expedition ; 
and  that  it  was  with  the  assistance  of  a  map  or  globe,  projected 
by  Behem,  on  which  was  laid  down  the  newly-discovered  coun¬ 
try,  that  Columbus  made  his  voyage.  This  rumor  originated 
in  an  absurd  misconstruction  of  a  Latin  manuscript,  and  was 
unsupported  bv  any  documents ;  yet  it  has  had  its  circulation, 
and  has  even  been  revived  not  many  years  since,  with  more 
zeal  than  discretion ;  but  is  now  completely  refuted  and  put  to 
rest.  The  land  visited  by  Behem  was  the  coast  of  Africa  beyond 
the  equator;  the  globe  he  projected  was  finished  in  1492,  while 
Columbus  was  absent  on  his  first  voyage :  it  contains  no  trace 
of  the  New  World,  and  thus  furnishes  conclusive  proof  that 
its  existence  was  yet  unknown  to  Behem.  f 

There  is  a  certain  meddlesome  spirit,  which,  in  the  garb  of 
learned  research,  goes  prying  about  the  traces  of  history,  cast¬ 
ing  down  its  monuments,  and  marring  and  mutilating  its  fair¬ 
est  trophies.  Care  should  be  taken  to  vindicate  great  names 
from  such  pernicious  erudition.  It  defeats  one  of  the  most  sal- 

*  See  illustrations,  article  “  Rumor  concerning  the  Pilot  who  died  in  the  House  o£ 
Columbus.” 

t  See  illustrations,  article  "  Behem.” 


40 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


utary  purposes  of  history,  that  of  furnishing  examples  of  what 
human  genius  and  laudable  enterprise  may  accomplish.  For 
this  purpose  some  pains  have  been  taken  in  the  preceding 
chapters  to  trace  the  rise  and  progress  of  this  grand  idea  in  the 
mind  of  Columbus ;  to  show  that  it  was  the  conception  of  his 
genius,  quickened  by  the  impulse  of  the  age,  and  aided  by 
those  scattered  gleams  of  knowledge  which  fell  ineffectually 
upon  ordinary  minds. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

CORRESPONDENCE  OF  COLUMBUS  WITH  PAULO  TOSCANELLI  — 
EVENTS  IN  PORTUGAL  RELATIVE  TO  DISCOVERIES — PROPOSITION 
OF  COLUMBUS  TO  THE  PORTUGUESE  COURT — DEPARTURE  FROM 
PORTUGAL. 

It  is  impossible  to  determine  the  precise  time  when  Colum¬ 
bus  first  conceived  the  design  of  seeking  a  western  route  to 
India.  It  is  certain,  however,  that  he  meditated  it  as  early  as 
the  year  1474,  though  as  yet  it  lay  crude  and  unmatured  in  his 
mind.  This  fact,  which  is  of  some  importance,  is  sufficiently 
established  by  the  correspondence  already  mentioned  with  the 
learned  Toscanelli  of  Florence,  which  took  place  in  the  summer 
of  that  year.  The  letter  of  Toscanelli  is  in  reply  to  one  from 
Columbus,  and  applauds  the  design  which  he  had  expressed  of 
making  a  voyage  to  the  west.  To  demonstrate  more  clearly 
the  facility  of  arriving  at  India  in  that  direction,  he  sent  him  a 
map  projected  partly  according  to  Ptolemy,  and  partly  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  descriptions  of  Marco  Polo,  the  Venetian.  The 
eastern  coast  of  Asia  was  depicted  in  front  of  the  western 
coasts  of  Africa  and  Europe,  with  a  moderate  space  of  ocean 
between  them,  in  which  were  placed  at  convenient  distances 
Cipango,  Antilla,  and  the  other  islands.*  Columbus  was 
greatly  animated  by  the  letter  and  chart  of  Toscanelli,  who 
was  considered  one  of  the  ablest  cosmographers  of  the  day. 
He  appears  to  have  procured  the  work  of  Marco  Polo,  which 

*  This  map,  by  which  Columbus  sailed  on  his  first  voyage  of  discovery,  Las  Casas, 
(lib.  i.  cap  12)  says  he  had  in  his  possession  at  the  time  of  writing  his  history.  It 
is  greatly  to  be  regretted  that  so  interesting  a  document  should  be  lost.  It  may 
yet  exist  among  the  chaotic  lumber  of  the  Spanish  archives.  Few  documents 
of  mere  curiosity  would  be  mof»  prec*'-" 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


43 


had  been  translated  into  various  languages,  and  existed  in  man¬ 
uscript  in  most  libraries.  This  author  gives  marvellous  ac¬ 
counts  of  the  riches  of  the  realms  of  Cathay  and  Mangi,  or 
Mangu,  since  ascertained  to  be  Northern  and  Southern  China, 
on  the  coast  of  which,  according  to  the  map  of  Toscanelli,  a  voy¬ 
ager  sailing  directly  west  would  be  sure  to  arrive.  He  describes 
in  unmeasured  terms  the  power  and  grandeur  of  the  sove¬ 
reign  of  these  countries,  the  Great  Khan  of  Tartary,  and  the 
splendor  and  magnitude  of  his  capitals  of  Cambalu  and  Quinsai, 
and  the  wonders  of  the  island  of  Cipango  or  Zipangi,  supposed 
to  be  Japan.  This  island  he  places  opposite  Cathay,  five  hun¬ 
dred  leagues  in  the  ocean.  He  represents  it  as  abounding  in 
gold,  precious  stones,  and  other  choice  objects  of  commerce, 
with  a  monarch  whose  palace  was  roofed  with  plates  of  gold  in¬ 
stead  of  lead.  The  narrations  of  this  traveller  were  by  some  con¬ 
sidered  fabulous ;  but  though  full  of  what  appear  to  be  splendid 
exaggerations,  they  have  since  been  found  substantially  cor¬ 
rect.  They  are  thus  particularly  noted,  from  the  influence  they 
had  over  the  imagination  of  Columbus.  The  work  of  Marco 
Polo  is  a  key  to  many  parts  of  his  history.  In  his  applications 
to  the  various  courts,  he  represented  the  countries  he  expected 
to  discover  as  those  regions  of  inexhaustible  wealth  which  the 
Venetian  had  described.  The  territories  of  the  Grand  Khan 
were  the  objects  of  inquiry  in  all  his  voyages;  and  in  Ins  cruis- 
ings  among  the  Antilles  he  was  continually  flattering  himself 
with  the  hopes  of  arriving  at  the  opulent  island  of  Cipango, 
and  the  coasts  of  Mangi  and  Cathay  * 

While  the  design  of  attempting  the  discovery  in  the  west 
was  maturing  in  the  mind  of  Columbus,  he  made  a  voyage  to 
the  north  of  Europe.  Of  this  we  have  no  other  memorial  than 
the  following  passage,  extracted  by  his  son  from  one  of  his  let¬ 
ters:  “In  the  year  1477,  in  February,  I  navigated  one  hundred 
leagues  beyond  Thule,  the  southern  part  of  which  is  seventy- 
three  degrees  distant  from  the  equator,  and  not  sixty-three,  as 
some  pretend ;  neither  is  it  situated  within  the  line  which  in¬ 
cludes  the  west  of  Ptolemy,  but  is  much  more  westerly.  The 
English,  principally  those  of  Bristol,  go  with  their  merchandise 
to  this  island,  which  is  as  large  as  England.  When  I  was  there 
the  sea  was  not  frozen,  and  the  tides  were  so  great  as  to  rise 
and  fall  twenty-six  fathom.”! 


*  A  more  particular  account  of  Marco  Polo  and  his  writings  is  given  among  the 
illustrations. 

+ Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  * 


44 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


The  island  thus  mentioned  is  generally  supposed  to  have  been 
Iceland,  which  is  far  to  the  west  of  the  Ultima  Thule  of  the 
ancients,  as  laid  down  in  the  map  of  Ptolemy. 

Several  more  years  elapsed,  without  any  decided  efforts  on 
the  part  of  Columbus  to  carry  his  design  into  execution.  He 
was  too  poor  to  fit  out  the  armament  necessary  for  so  important 
an  expedition.  Indeed  it  was  an  enterprise  only  to  be  under¬ 
taken  in  the  employ  of  some  sovereign  state,  which  could 
assume  dominion  over  the  territories  he  might  discover,  and 
reward  him  with  dignities  and  privileges  commensurate  to  his 
services.  It  is  asserted  that  he  at  one  time  endeavored  to  en¬ 
gage  his  native  country,  Genoa,  in  the  undertaking,  but  with¬ 
out  success.  No  record  remains  of  such  an  attempt,  though  it 
is  generally  believed,  and  has  strong  probability  in  its  favor. 
His  residence  in  Portugal  placed  him  at  hand  to  solicit  the 
patronage  of  that  power,  but  Alphonso,  who  was  then  on  the 
throne,  was  too  much  engrossed  in  the  latter  part  of  his  reign 
with  a  war  with  Spain,  for  the  succession  of  the  Princess  Juana 
to  the  crown  of  Castile,  to  engage  in  peaceful  enterprises  of  an 
expensive  nature.  The  public  mind,  also,  was  not  prepared  for 
so  perilous  an  undertaking.  Notwithstanding  the  many  recent 
voyages  to  the  coast  of  Africa  and  the  adjacent  islands,  and  the 
introduction  of  the  compass  into  more  general  use,  navigation 
was  still  shackled  with  impediments,  and  the  mariner  rarely 
ventured  far  out  of  sight  of  land. 

Discovery  advanced  slowly  along  the  coasts  of  Africa,  and 
the  mariners  feared  to  cruise  far  into  the  southern  hemisphere, 
with  the  stars  of  which  they  were  totally  unacquainted.  To 
such  men,  the  project  of  a  voyage  directly  westward,  into  the 
midst  of  that  boundless  waste,  to  seek  some  visionary  land,,  ap¬ 
peared  as  extravagant  as  it  would  be  at  the  present  day  to 
launch  forth  in  a  balloon  into  the  regions  of  space  in  quest  of 
some  distant  star. 

The  time,  however,  was  at  hand,  that  was  to  extend  the 
sphere  of  navigation.  The  era  was  propitious  to  the  quick  ad¬ 
vancement  of  knowledge.  The  recent  invention  of  the  art  of 
printing  enabled  men  to  communicate  rapidly  and  extensively 
their  ideas  and  discoveries.  It  drew  forth  learning  from  libra¬ 
ries  and  convents,  and  brought  it  familiarly  to  the  reading-desk 
of  the  student.  Volumes  of  information,  which  before  had  ex¬ 
isted  only  in  costly  manuscripts,  carefully  treasured  up,  and 
kept  out  of  the  reach  of  the  indigent  scholar  and  obscure  ar¬ 
tist,  were  now  in  every  hand.  There  was  henceforth  to  be  no 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


45 


retrogression  in  knowledge,  nor  any  pause  in  its  career.  Every 
step  in  advance  was  immediately,  and  simultaneously,  and 
widely  promulgated,  recorded  in  a  thousand  forms,  and  fixed 
forever.  There  could  never  again  be  a  dark  age;  nations 
might  shut  their  eyes  to  the  light,  and  sit  in  wilful  darkness, 
but  they  could  not  trample  it  out ;  it  would  still  shine  on,  dis¬ 
pensed  to  happier  parts  of  the  world,  by  the  diffusive  powers 
of  the  press. 

At  this  juncture,  in  1481,  a  monarch  ascended  the  throne  of 
Portugal,  of  different  ambition  from  Alphonso.  John  II.,  then 
in  the  twenty-fifth  year  of  his  age,  had  imbibed  the  passion  for 
discovery  from  his  grand-uncle,  Prince  Henry,  and  with  his 
reign  all  its  activity  revived.  His  first  care  was  to  build  a  fort 
at  St.  George  de  la  Mina,  on  the  coast  of  Guinea,  to  protect  the 
trade  carried  on  in  that  neighborhood  for  gold  dust,  ivory,  and 
slaves. 

The  African  discoveries  had  conferred  great  glory  upon 
Portugal,  but  as  yet  they  had  been  expensive  rather  than  pro¬ 
fitable.  The  accomplishment  of  the  route  to  India,  however, 
it  was  expected  would  repay  all  cost  and  toil,  and  open  a  source 
of  incalculable  wealth  to  the  nation.  The  project  of  Prince 
Henry,  which  had  now  been  tardily  prosecuted  for  half  a  centu¬ 
ry,  had  excited  a  curiosity  about  the  remote  parts  of  Asia,  and 
revived  all  the  accounts,  true  and  fabulous,  of  travellers. 

Besides  the  work  of  Marco  Polo,  already  mentioned,  there 
was  the  narrative  of  Rabbi  Benjamin  ben  Jonah,  of  Tudela,  a 
Spanish  Jew,  who  sefc  out  from  Saragossa  in  1173,  to  visit  the 
scattered  remnants  of  the  Hebrew  tribes.  Wandering  with 
unwearied  zeal  on  this  pious  errand,  over  most  parts  of  the 
known  world,  he  penetrated  China,  and  passed  thence  to  the 
southern  islands  of  Asia.*  There  were  also  the  narratives  of 
Carpini  and  Ascelin,  two  friars,  dispatched,  the  one  in  1246,  the 
other  in  1247,  by  Pope  Innocent  IV.,  as  apostolic  ambassadors, 
for  the  purpose  of  converting  the  Grand  Khan  of  Tartary ;  and 
the  journal  of  William  Rubruquis  (or  Ruysbroek),  a  celebrated 
Cordelier,  sent  on  a  similar  errand  in  1253,  by  Louis  IX.,  of 
France,  then  on  his  unfortunate  crusade  into  Palestine.  These 
pious  but  chimerical  missions  had  proved  abortive;  but  the 
narratives  of  them  being  revived  in  the  fifteenth  century, 


*  Bergeron,  Voyages  en  Asie,  tom.  i.  The  work  of  Benjamin  of  Tudela,  originally- 
written  in  Hebrew,  was  so  much  in  repute,  that  the  translation  went  through  six 
|een  editions.  Andres,  Hist.  B.  Let.,  ii.  cap.  6. 


46 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


served  to  inflame  the  public  curiosity  respecting  the  remote 
parts  of  Asia. 

In  these  narratives  we  first  find  mention  made  of  the  re¬ 
nowned  Prester  John,  a  Christian  king,  said  to  hold  sway  in  a 
remote  part  of  the  East,  who  was  long  an  object  of  curiosity 
and  research,  but  whose  kingdom  seemed  to  shift  its  situation 
in  the  tale  of  every  traveller,  and  to  vanish  from  the  search  as 
effectually  as  the  unsubstantial  island  of  St.  Brandan.  All  the 
speculations  concerning  this  potentate  and  his  Oriental  realm 
were  again  put  in  circulation.  It  was  fancied  that  traces  of 
his  empire  were  discovered  in  the  interior  of  Africa,  to  the 
east  of  Benin,  where  there  was  a  powerful  prince,  who  used  a 
cross  among  the  insignia  of  royalty.  John  II.  partook  largely 
of  the  popular  excitement  produced  by  these  narrations.  In 
the  early  part  of  his  reign  he  actually  sent  missions  in  quest  of 
Prestor  John,  to  visit  whose  dominions  became  the  romantic 
desire  of  many  a  religious  enthusiast.*  The  magnificent  idea 
he  had  formed  of  the  remote  parts  of  the  East  made  him  ex- 
tremeiy  anxious  that  the  splendid  project  of  Prince  Henry 
should  be  realized,  and  the  Portuguese  flag  penetrate  to  the 
Indian  seas.  Impatient  of  the  slowness  with  which  his  dis¬ 
coveries  advanced  along  the  coast  of  Africa,  and  of  the  impedi¬ 
ments  which  every  cape  and  promontory  presented  to  nautical 
enterprise,  he  called  in  the  aid  of  science  to  devise  some  means 
by  which  greater  scope  and  certainty  might  be  given  to  navi¬ 
gation.  His  two  physicians,  Koderigo  and  Joseph,  the  latter  a 
Jew,  the  most  able  astronomers  and  cosmographers  of  his  king¬ 
dom,  together  with  the  celebrated  Martin  Behem,  entered  into 
a  learned  consultation  on  the  subject.  The  result  of  their 
conferences  and  labors  was  the  application  of  the  astrolabe  to 
navigation,  enabling  the  seaman,  by  the  altitude  of  the  sun,  to 
ascertain  his  distance  from  the  equator,  f  This  instrument  has 
since  been  improved  and  modified  into  the  modern  quadrant, 
of  which,  even  at  its  first  introduction,  it  possessed  all  the  es¬ 
sential  advantages. 

It  is  impossible  to  describe  the  effect  produced  upon  naviga¬ 
tion  by  this  invention.  It  cast  it  loose  at  once  from  its  long 
bondage  to  the  land,  and  set  it  free  to  rove  the  deep.  The 
mariner  now,  instead  of  coasting  the  shores  like  the  ancient 
navigators,  and,  if  driven  from  the  land,  groping  his  way  back 
in  doubt  and  apprehension  by  the  uncertain  guidance  of  the 


*  See  illustrations,  article  “Prester  John.” 
t  Barros,  decad.  1,  lib.  iv.  cap.  2.  Mallei,  lib.  vi.  d.  6  and  7. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


47 


stars,  might  adventure  boldly  into  unknown  seas,  confident  of 
being  able  to  trace  his  course  by  means  of  the  compass  and  the 
astrolabe. 

It  was  shortly  after  this  event,  which  had  prepared  guides 
for  discovery  across  the  trackless  ocean,  that  Columbus  made 
the  first  attempt,  of  which  we  have  any  clear  and  indisputable 
record,  to  procure  royal  patronage  for  his  enterprise.  The 
court  of  Portugal  had  shown  extraordinary  liberality  in  re 
warding  nautical  discovery.  Most  of  those  who  had  succeeded 
in  her  service  had  been  appointed  to  the  government  of  the 
islands  and  countries  they  had  discovered,  although  many  of 
them  were  foreigners  by  birth.  Encouraged  by  this  liberality, 
and  by  the  anxiety  evinced  by  King  John  II.  to  accomplish  a 
passage  by  sea  to  India,  Columbus  obtained  an  audience  of  that 
monarch,  and  proposed,  in  case  the  king  would  furnish  him 
with  ships  and  men,  to  undertake  a  shorter  and  more  direct 
route  than  that  along  the  coast  of  Africa.  His  plan  was  to 
strike  directly  to  the  west,  across  the  Atlantic.  He  then  un¬ 
folded  his  hypothesis  with  respect  to  the  extent  of  Asia,  describ¬ 
ing  also  the  immense  riches  of  the  island  of  Cipango,  the  first 
land  at  which  he  expected  to  arrive.  Of  this  audience  we  have 
two  accounts,  written  in  somewhat  of  an  opposite  spirit ;  one 
by  his  son  Fernando,  the  other  by  Joam  de  Barros,  the  Portu¬ 
guese  historiographer.  It  is  curious  to  notice  the  different 
views  taken  of  the  same  transaction  by  the  enthusiastic  son, 
and  by  the  cool,  p  rhaps  prejudiced,  historian. 

The  king,  according  to  Fernando,  listened  to  his  father  with 
great  attention,  but  was  discouraged  from  engaging  in  any  new 
scheme  of  the  kind,  by  the  cost  and  trouble  already  sustained 
in  exploring  the  route  by  the  African  coast,  which  as  yet  re¬ 
mained  unaccomplished.  His  father,  however,  supported  his 
proposition  by  such  excellent  reasons,  that  the  king  was  in¬ 
duced  to  give  his  consent.  The  only  difficulty  that  remained 
was  the  terms ;  for  Columbus,  being  a  man  of  lofty  and  noble 
sentiments,  demanded  high  and  honorable  titles  and  rewards, 
to  the  end,  says  Fernando,  that  he  might  leave  behind  him  a 
name  and  family  worthy  of  his  deeds  and  merits.* 

Barros,  on  the  other  hand,  attributes  the  seeming  acquiescence 
of  the  king,  merely  to  the  importunities  of  Columbus.  He  con¬ 
sidered  him,  says  the  historian,  a  vainglorious  man,  fond  of 
displaying  his  abilities,  and  given  to  fantastic  fancies,  such  as 


'JAisL.  del  Almirante.  cay.  10. 


48 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


that  respecting  the  island  of  Cipango.*  But  in  fact,  this  idea 
of  Columbus  being  vain,  was  taken  up  by  the  Portuguese  writers 
in  after  years ;  and  as  to  the  island  of  Cipango,  it  was  far  from 
being  considered  chimerical  by  the  king,  who,  as  has  been 
shown  by  his  mission  in  search  of  Prester  John,  was  a  ready 
believer  in  these  travellers’  tales  concerning  the  East.  The 
reasoning  of  Columbus  must  have  produced  an  effect  on  the 
mind  of  the  monarch,  since  it  is  certain  that  he  referred  the 
proposition  to  a  learned  junto,  charged  with  all  matters  relat¬ 
ing  to  maritime  discovery. 

This  junto  was  composed  of  two  able  cosmographers,  mas¬ 
ters  Roderigo  and  Joseph,  and  the  king’s  confessor,  Diego  Ortiz 
de  Cazadilla,  bishop  of  Ceuta,  a  man  greatly  reputed  for  his 
learning,  a  Castilian  by  birth,  and  generally  called  Cazadilla, 
from  the  name  of  his  native  place.  This  scientific  body  treated 
the  project  as  extravagant  and  visionary. 

Still  the  king  does  not  appear  to  have  been  satisfied.  Accord¬ 
ing  to  his  historian  Vasconcelos,t  he  convoked  his  council, 
composed  of  prelates  and  persons  of  the  greatest  learning  in 
the  kingdom,  and  asked  their  advice,  whether  to  adopt  this 
new  route  of  discovery,  or  to  pursue  that  which  they  had  al¬ 
ready  opened. 

It  may  not  be  deemed  superfluous  to  notice  briefly  the  dis¬ 
cussion  of  the  council  on  this  great  question.  Yasconcelos 
reports  a  speech  of  the  Bishop  of  Ceuta,  in  which  he  not  only 
objected  to  the  proposed  enterprise,  as  destitute  of  reason,  but 
even  discountenanced  any  further  prosecution  of  the  African 
discoveries.  “ They  tended, ”  he  said,  “to  distract  the  atten¬ 
tion,  drain  the  resources,  and  divide  the  power  of  the  nation, 
already  too  much  weakened  by  recent  war  and  pestilence. 
While  their  forces  were  thus  scattered  abroad  on  remote  and 
unprofitable  expeditions;  they  exposed  themselves  to  attack  from 
their  active  enemy  the  King  of  Castile.  The  greatness  of  mon- 
archs,”  he  continued,  “did  not  arise  so  much  from  the  extent 
of  their  dominions,  as  from  the  wisdom  and  ability  with  which 
they  governed.  In  the  Portuguese  nation  it  would  be  madness 
to  launch  into  enterprises  without  first  considering  them  in 
connection  with  its  means.  The  king  had  already  sufficient 
undertakings  in  hand  of  certain  advantage,  without  engaging 
in  others  of  a  wild,  chimerical  nature.  If  he  wished  employ- 


*  Barros,  Asia,  decad.  1,  lib.  iii.  cap.  2. 
t  Yasconcelos,  Vida  del  Key  Don  Juan  II.,  lib.  iv. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


49 


ment  for  the  active  valor  of  the  nation,  the  war  in  which  he 
was  engaged  against  the  Moors  of  Barbary  was  sufficient, 
wherein  his  triumphs  were  of  solid  advantage,  tending  to  crip¬ 
ple  and  enfeeble  those  neighboring  foes,  who  had  proved  them- 
selves  so  dangerous  when  possessed  of  power.” 

This  cool  and  cautious  speech  of  the  Bishop  of  Ceuta,  directed 
against  enterprises  which  were  the  glory  of  the  Portuguese, 
touched  the  national  pride  of  Don  Pedro  de  Meneses,  Count  of 
Villa  Real,  and  drew  from  him  a  lofty  and  patriotic  reply.  It 
has  been  said  by  an  historian  that  this  reply  was  in  support  of 
the  proposition  of  Columbus ;  but  that  does  not  clearly  appear. 
He  may  have  treated  the  proposal  with  respect,  but  his  elo¬ 
quence  was  employed  for  those  enterprises  in  which  the  Portu¬ 
guese  were  already  engaged. 

“Portugal,”  he  observed,  “was  not  in  its  infancy,  nor  were 
its  princes  so  poor  as  to  lack  means  to  engage  in  discoveries. 
Even  granting  that  those  proposed  by  Columbus  were  conjec¬ 
tural,  why  should  they  abandon  those  commenced  by  their  late 
Prince  Henry,  on  such  solid  foundations,  and  prosecuted  with 
such  happy  prospects?  Crowns,”  he  observed,  “enriched  them¬ 
selves  by  commerce,  fortified  themselves  by  alliance,  and 
acquired  empires  by  conquest.  The  views  of  a  nation  could  not 
always  be  the  same ;  they  extended  with  its  opulence  and  pros¬ 
perity.  Portugal  was  at  peace  with  all  the  princes  of  Europe. 
It  had  nothing  to  fear  from  engaging  in  an  extensive  enterprise. 
It  would  be  the  greatest  glory  for  Portuguese  valor  to  penetrate 
into  the  secrets  and  horrors  of  the  ocean  sea,  so  formidable  to 
the  other  nations  of  the  world.  Thus  occupied,  it  would  escape 
the  idleness  engendered  in  a  long  interval  of  peace — idleness, 
that  source  of  vice,  tha-t  silent  file,  which,  little  by  little,  wore 
away  the  strength  and  valor  of  a  nation.  It  was  an  affront,  ” 
he  added,  “  to  the  Portuguese  name  to  menace  it  with  imagina¬ 
ry  perils,  when  it  had  proved  itself  so  intrepid  in  encountering 
those  which  were  most  certain  and  tremendous.  Great  souls 
were  formed  for  great  enterprises.  He  wondered  much  that  a 
prelate,  so  religious  as  the  Bishop  of  Ceuta,  should  oppose  this 
undertaking;  the  ultimate  object  of  which  was  to  augment  the 
Catholic  faith,  and  spread  it  from  pole  to  pole ;  reflecting  glory 
on  the  Portuguese  nation,  and  yielding  empire  and  lasting  fame 
to  its  princes.”  He  concluded  by  declaring  that,  “although  a 
soldier,  he  dared  to  prognosticate,  with  a  voice  and  spirit  as 
if  from  heaven,  to  whatever  prince  should  achieve  this  enter¬ 
prise,  more  happy  success  and  durable  renown  than  had  ever 


50  •  ■  LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS.  ■ 


been  obtained  by  sovereign  the  most  valorous  and  fortunate.”  * 
The  warm  and  generous  eloquence  of  the  count  overpowered 
the  cold-spirited  reasonings  of  the  bishop  as  far  as  the  project 
of  circumnavigating  Africa  was  concerned,  which  was  prose¬ 
cuted  with  new  ardor  and  triumphant  success :  the  proposition 
of  Columbus,  however,  w  as  generally  condemned  by  the  council. 

Seeing  that  King  John  still  manifested  an  inclination  for  the 
enterprise,  it  was  suggested  to  him  by  the  Bishop  of  Ceuta  that 
Columbus  might  be  kept  in  suspense  while  a  vessel  secretly 
dispatched  in  the  direction  he  should  point  out  might  ascertain 
whether  there  were  any  foundation  for  his  theory.  By  this 
means  all  its  advantages  might  be  secured,  without  committing 
the  dignity  of  the  crown  by  formal  negotiations  about  what 
might  prove  a  mere  chimera.  King  John,  in  an  evil  hour,  had 
the  weakness  to  permit  a  stratagem  so  inconsistent  with  his 
usual  justice  and  magnanimity.  Columbus  was  required  to 
furnish  for  the  consideration  of  the  council  a  detailed  plan  of 
his  proposed  voyage,  with  tne  charts  and  documents  according 
to  which  he  intended  to  shape  his  course.  These  being  pro¬ 
cured,  a  caravel  was  dispatched  with  the  ostensible  design  of 
carrying  provisions  to  the  Cape  de  Verde  islands,  but  with  pri¬ 
vate  instructions  to  pursue  the  designated  route.  Departing 
from  those  islands  the  caravel  stood  westward  for  several  days, 
until  the  weather  became  stormy;  when  the  pilots,  seeing 
nothing  but  an  immeasurable  waste  of  wild,  tumbling  waves 
still  extending  before  them,  lost  all  courage  and  put  back,  ridi¬ 
culing  the  project  of  Columbus  as  extravagant  and  irrational. f 

This  unworthy  attempt  to  defraud  him  of  his  enterprise 
roused  the  indignation  of  Columbus,  and  he  declined  all  offers 
of  King  John  to  renew  the  negotiation.  The  death  of  his  wife, 
which  had  occurred  some  time  previously,  had  dissolved  the 
domestic  tie  which  bound  him  to  Portugal;  he  determined, 
therefore,  to  abandon  a  country  where  he  had  been  treated  with 
so  little  faith,  and  to  look  elsewhere  for  patronage.  Before  his 
departure,  he  engaged  his  brother  Bartholomew  to  carry  pro¬ 
posals  to  the  King  of  England,  though  he  does  not  appear  to 
have  entertained  great  hope  from  that  quarter ;  England  by  no 
means  possessing  at  the  time  the  spirit  of  nautical  enterprise 
which  has  since  distinguished  her.  The  great  reliance  of  Co¬ 
lumbus  was  on  his  own  personal  exertions. 


*  Vasconcelos,  lib.  iv.  La  Clede,  Hist.  Portugal,  lib.  xiii.  tom.  iu. 
t  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  8.  Herrera,  decad.  1,  lib.  i.  cap.  7. 


LIFE  OF  CU RIS T0P1IKR  COLUl'BTTS. 


51 


It  was  toward  the  end  of  1484  that  he  left  Lisbon,  taking  with 
him  his  son  Diego.  His  departure  had  to  be  conducted  with 
secrecy,  lest,  as  some  assert,  it  should  be  prevented  by  King 
John;  but  lest,  as  others  surmise,  it  should  he  prevented  by  his 
creditors.*  Like  many  other  great  projectors,  while  engaged 
upon  schemes  of  vast  benefit  to  mankind,  he  had  suffered  his 
own  affairs  to  go  to  ruin,  and  was  reduced  to  struggle  hard 
with  poverty ;  nor  is  it  one  of  the  least  interesting  circumstances 
in  his  eventful  life,  that  he  had,  in  a  manner,  to  beg  his  way 
from  court  to  court,  to  offer  to  princes  the  discovery  of  a  world. 


*  This  surmise  is  founded  on  a  letter  from  Iling  John  to  Columbus,  written  some 
years  afterward,  inviting  him  to  return  to  Portugal,  and  insuring  him  against 
arrest  on  account  of  any  procesr,  civil  or  criminal,  winch  might  be  pending  against 
pim.  gee  Havarrete,  OolLec.  tom.  ii.  doc.  3. 


BOOK  II. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PROCEEDINGS  OF  COLUMBUS  AFTER  LEAVING  PORTUGAL  -  HIS 
APPLICATIONS  IN  SPAIN  —  CHARACTERS  OF  FERDINAND  AND 
ISABELLA. 

[1485.] 

The  immediate  movements  of  Columbus  on  leaving  Portugal 
are  involved  in  uncertainty.  It  is  said  that  about  this  time 
he  made  a  proposition  of  his  enterprise,  in  person,  as  he  had 
formerly  done  by  letter,  to  the  government  of  Genoa.  The 
republic,  however,  was  in  a  languishing  decline,  and  embar¬ 
rassed  by  a  foreign  war.  Caffa,  her  great  deposit  in  the  Cri¬ 
mea,  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  Turks,  and  her  flag  was  on 
the  point  of  being  driven  from  the  Archipelago.  Her  spirit 
was  broken  with  her  fortunes ;  for  with  nations,  as  with  individ¬ 
uals,  enterprise  is  the  child  of  prosperity,  and  is  apt  to  languish 
in  evil  days  when  there  is  most  need  of  its  exertion.  Thus 
Genoa,  disheartened  by  her  reverses,  shut  her  ears  to  the  pro¬ 
position  of  Columbus,  which  might  have  elevated  her  to  ten¬ 
fold  splendor,  and  perpetuated  within  her  grasp  the  golden 
wand  of  commerce.  While  at  Genoa,  Columbus  is  said  to  have 
made  arrangements  out  of  his  scanty  means  for  the  comfort  of 
his  aged  father.  It  is  also  affirmed  that  about  tins  time  he  car¬ 
ried  his  proposal  to  Venice,  where  it  was  declined  on  account 
of  the  critical  state  of  national  affairs.  This,  however,  is  merely 
traditional,  and  unsupported  by  documentary  evidence.  The 
first  firm  and  indisputable  trace  we  have  of  Columbus  after  leav 
ing  Portugal  is  in  the  south  of  Spain,  in  1485,  where  we  find 
him  seeking  his  fortune  among  the  Spanish  nobles,  several  of 
whom  had  vast  possessions,  and  exercised  almost  independent 
sovereignty  in  their  domains. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


53 


Foremost  among  these  were  the  dukes  of  Medina  Sidonia 
and  Medina  Celi,  who  had  estates  like  principalities  lying  along 
the  sea-coast,  with  ports  and  shipping  and  hosts  of  retainers  at 
their  command.  They  served  the  crown  in  its  Moorish  wars 
more  as  allied  princes  than  as  vassals,  bringing  armies  into  the 
field  led  by  themselves,  or  by  captains  of  their  own  appoint¬ 
ment.  Their  domestic  establishments  were  on  almost  a  regal 
scale ;  their  palaces  were  filled  with  persons  of  merit,  and  young 
cavaliers  of  noble  birth,  to  be  reared  under  their  auspices,  in 
the  exercise  of  arts  and  arms. 

Columbus  had  many  interviews  with  the  Duke  of  Medina 
Sidonia,  who  was  tempted  for  a  time  by  the  slendid  prospects 
held  out ;  but  their  very  splendor  threw  a  coloring  of  improba¬ 
bility  over  the  enterprise,  and  he  finally  rejected  it  as  the 
dream  of  an  Italian  visionary. 

The  Duke  of  Medina  Celi  was  likewise  favorable  at  the  outset. 
He  entertained  Columbus  for  some  time  in  his  house,  and  wai 
actually  on  the  point  of  granting  him  three  or  four  caravels 
which  lay  ready  for  sea  in  his  harbor  of  Port  St.  Mary,  oppo¬ 
site  Cadiz,  when  he  suddenly  changed  his  mind,  deterred  by  the 
consideration  that  the  enterprise,  if  successful,  would  involve 
discoveries  too  important  to  be  grasped  by  any  but  a  sovereign 
power,  and  that  the  Spanish  government  might  be  displeased 
at  his  undertaking  it  on  his  own  account.  Finding,  however, 
that  Columbus  intended  to  make  his  next  application  to  the 
King  of  France,  and  loath  that  an  enterprise  of  such  impor¬ 
tance  should  be  lost  to  Spain,  the  duke  wrote  to  Queen  Isabella 
recommending  it  strongly  to  her  attention.  The  queen  made  a 
favorable  reply,  and  requested  that  Columbus  might  be  sent  to 
her.  He  accordingly  set  out  for  the  Spanish  court,  then  at 
Cordova,  bearing  a  letter  to  the  queen  from  the  duke,  soliciting 
that,  in  case  the  expedition  should  be  carried  into  effect,  he 
might  have  a  share  in  it,  and  the  fitting  out  of  the  armament 
from  his  port  of  St.  Mary,  as  a  recompense  for  having  waived 
the  enterprise  in  favor  of  the  crown.”  * 

The  time  when  Columbus  thus  sought  his  fortunes  at  the 

*  Letter  of  the  Duke  of  Medina  Celi  to  the  grand  cardinal.  Navarrete,  Collect, 
vol.  ii.  p.  20. 

N.B. — In  the  previous  editions  of  this  work,  the  first  trace  we  have  of  Columbus 
in  Spain  is  at  the  gate  of  the  convent  of  La  Rabida,  in  Andalusia.  Subsequent 
investigations  have  induced  me  to  conform  to  the  opinion  of  the  indefatigable  and 
accurate  Navarrete,  given  in  his  third  volume  of  documents,  that  the  first  trace  of 
Columbus  in  Spain  was  his  application  to  the  Dukes  of  Medina  Sidonia  and  Medina 
Celi,  and  that  his  visit  to  the  eonveut  of  La  Rabida  was  some  few  years  subsequent. 


54 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


court  of  Spain  coincided  with  one  of  the  most  brilliant  periods 
of  the  Spanish  monarchy.  The  union  of  the  kingdoms  of  Arra- 
gon  and  Castile,  by  the  marriage  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  had 
consolidated  the  Christian  power  in  the  Peninsula,  and  put  an 
end  to  those  internal  feuds  which  had  so  long  distracted  the 
country,  and  insured  the  domination  of  the  Moslems.  The 
whole  force  of  united  Spain  was  now  exerted  in  the  chivalrous 
enterprise  of  the  Moorish  conquest.  The  Moors,  who  had  once 
spread  over  the  whole  country  iike  an  inundation,  were  now  pent 
up  within  the  mountain  boundaries  of  the  kingdom  of  Granada. 
The  victorious  armies  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  were  continual¬ 
ly  advancing,  and  pressing  this  fierce  people  within  narrower 
limits.  Under  these  sovereigns,  the  various  petty  kingdoms  of 
Spain  began  to  feel  and  act  as  one  nation,  and  to  rise  to  eminence 
in  arts  as  well  as  arms.  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  it  has  been  re¬ 
marked,  lived  together  not  like  man  and  wife,  whose  estates  are 
common,  under  the  orders  of  the  husband,  but  like  two  monarchs 
strictl y  allied.  *  They  had  separate  claims  to  sovereignty,  in  vir¬ 
tue  of  their  respective  kingdoms ;  they  had  separate  councils,  and 
were  often  distant  from  each  other  in  different  parts  of  their  em¬ 
pire,  each  exercising  the  royal  authority.  Yet  they  were  so  hap¬ 
pily  united  by  common  views,  common  interests,  and  a  great 
deference  for  each  other,  that  this  double  administration  never 
prevented  a  unity  of  purpose  and  of  action.  All  acts  of  sover¬ 
eignty  were  executed  in  both  their  names ;  all  public  writings 
were  subscribed  with  both  their  signatures ;  their  likenesses  were 
stamped  together  on  the  public  coin ;  and  the  royal  seal  dis¬ 
played  the  united  arms  of  Castile  and  Arragon. 

Ferdinand  was  of  the  middle  stature,  well  proportioned,  and 
hardy  and  active  from  athletic  exercise.  His  carriage  was 
free,  erect,  and  majestic.  He  had  a  clear,  serene  forehead, 
which  appeared  more  lofty  from  his  head  being  partly  bald. 
His  eyebrows  were  large  and  parted,  and,  like  his  hair,  of  a 
bright  chestnut ;  his  eyes  were  clear  and  animated ;  his  com¬ 
plexion  was  somewhat  ruddy,  and  scorched  by  the  toils  of  war ; 
his  mouth  moderate,  well  formed,  and  gracious  in  its  expres¬ 
sion;  his  teeth  white,  though  small  and  irregular;  his  voice 
sharp ;  his  speech  quick  and  fluent.  His  genius  was  clear  and 
comprehensive;  his  judgment  grave  and  certain.  He  was 
simple  in  dress  and  diet,  equable  in  his  temper,  devout  in  his 
religion,  and  so  indefatigable  in  business,  that  it  was  said  he 


*  Voltaire,  Essai  su r  les  Moeurs,  etc. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


US 


seemed  to  repose  himself  by  working.  He  was  a  great  obser¬ 
ver  and  judge  of  men,  and  unparalleled  in  the  science  of  the 
cabinet.  Such  is  the  picture  given  of  him  by  the  Spanish  his¬ 
torians  of  his  time.  It  has  been  added,  however,  that  he  had 
more  of  bigotry  than  religion ;  that  his  ambition  was  craving 
rather  than  magnanimous;  that  he  made  war  less  like  a  pala¬ 
din  than  a  prince,  less  for  glory  than  mere  dominion ;  and  that 
his  policy  was  cold,  selfish,  and  artful.  He  was  called  the  wise 
and  prudent  in  Spain ;  in  Italy,  the  pious ;  in  France  and  Eng¬ 
land,  the  ambitious  and  perfidious.*  He  certainly  was  one  of 
the  most  subtle  statesmen,  but  one  of  the  most  thorough  ego¬ 
tists  that  ever  sat  upon  a  throne. 

While  giving  his  picture,  it  may  not  be  deemed  impertinent 
to  sketch  the  fortunes  of  a  monarch  whose  policy  had  such 
an  effect  upon  the  history  of  Columbus  and  the  destinies  of 
the  New  World.  Success  attended  all  his  measures.  Though 
a  younger  son,  he  had  ascended  the  throne  of  Arragon  by  in¬ 
heritance;  Castile  he  obtained  by  marriage;  Granada  and 
Naples  by  conquest;  and  he  seized  upon  Navarre  as  appertain¬ 
ing  to  any  one  who  could  take  possession  of  it,  when  Pope  Ju¬ 
lius  II.  excommunicated  its  sovereigns,  Juan  and  Catalina,  and 
gave  their  throne  to  the  first  occupant,  t  He  sent  his  forces 
into  Africa,  and  subjugated  or  reduced  to  vassalage  Tunis, 
Tripoli,  Algiers,  and  most  of  the  Barbary  powers.  A  new 
world  was  also  given  to  him,  without  cost,  by  the  discoveries 
of  Columbus,  for  the  expense  of  the  enterprise  was  borne  exclu¬ 
sively  by  his  consort  Isabella.  He  had  three  objects  at  heart 
from  the  commencement  of  his  reign,  which  he  pursued  with 
bigoted  and  persecuting  zeal:  the  conquest  of  the  Moors,  the 
expulsion  of  the  Jews,  and  the  establishment  of  the  Inquisition 
in  his  dominions.  He  accomplished  them  all,  and  was  re¬ 
warded  by  Pope  Innocent  VIII.  with  the  appellation  of  Most 
Catholic  Majesty — a  title  which  his  successors  have  tenaciously 
retained. 

Contemporary  writers  have  been  enthusiastic  in  their  descrip¬ 
tions  of  Isabella,  but  time  has  sanctioned  their  eulogies.  She  is 
one  of  the  purest  and  most  beautiful  characters  in  the  pages  of 
history.  She  was  well  formed,  of  the  middle  size,  with  great 
dignity  and  gracefulness  of  deportment,  and  a  mingled  gravity 


*  Voltaire,  Essai  sur  les  Moeurs,  etc., 

t  Pedro  Salazar  di  Mendoza,  Monarq.  de  Esp.  lib.  iii.  cap.  5.  (Madrid.  1770,  tom. 
i  p.  402.)  Gonzalo  de  Illescas,  His-t.  Pontif.  lib.  vi.  cap.  23,  §  3. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COL  EMBUS. 


56 

and  sweetness  of  demeanor.  Her  complexion  was  fair ;  her  hail 
auburn,  inclining  to  red ;  her  eyes  were  of  a  clear  blue,  with  a 
benign  expression,  and  there  was  a  singular  modesty  in  her 
countenance,  gracing,  as  it  did,  a  wonderful  firmness  of  purpose 
and  earnestness  of  spirit.  Though  strongly  attached  to  her  hus¬ 
band  and  studious  of  his  fame,  yet  she  always  maintained  her 
distinct  rights  as  an  allied  prince.  She  exceeded  him  in  beauty, 
in  personal  dignity,  in  acuteness  Of  genius,  and  in  grandeur  ot 
soul.*  Combining  the  active  and  resolute  qualities  of  man  with 
the  softer  charities  of  woman,  she  mingled  in  the  warlike  coun¬ 
cils  of  her  husband,  engaged  personally  in  his  enterprises, t  and 
in  some  instances  surpassed  him  in  the  firmness  and  intrepidity 
of  her  measures;  while,  being  inspired  with  a  truer  idea  of 
glory,  she  infused  a  more  lofty  and  generous  temper  into  his 
subtle  and  calculating  policy. 

It  is  in  the  civil  history  of  their  reign,  however,  that  the  char¬ 
acter  of  Isabella  shines  most  illustrious.  Her  fostering  and 
maternal  care  was  continually  directed  to  reform  the  laws,  and 
heal  the  ills  engendered  by  a  long  course  of  internal  wars.  She 
loved  her  people,  and  while  diligently  seeking  their  good,  she 
mitigated,  as  much  as  possible,  the  harsh  measures  of  her  hus¬ 
band,  directed  to  the  same  end,  but  inflamed  by  a  mistaken 
zeal.  Thus,  though  almost  bigoted  in  her  piety,  and  perhaps 
too  much  under  the  influence  of  ghostly  advisers,  still  she  was 
hostile  to  every  measure  calculated  to  advance  religion  at  the 
expense  of  humanity.  She  strenuously  opposed  the  expulsion  of 
the  Jews  and  the  establishment  of  the  Inquisition,  though,  unfor¬ 
tunately  for  Spain,  her  repugnance  was  slowly  vanquished  by 
her  confessors.  She  was  always  an  advocate  for  clemency  to  the 
Moors,  although  she  was  the  soul  of  the  war  against  Granada. 
She  considered  that  war  essential  to  protect  the  Christian  faith, 
and  to  relieve  her  subjects  from  fierce  and  formidable  enemies. 
While  all  her  public  thoughts  and  acts  were  princely  and  august, 
her  private  habits  were  simple,  frugal,  and  unostentatious.  In 
the  intervals  of  state  business,  she  assembled  round  her  the 
ablest  men  in  literature  and  science,  and  directed  herself  by 
their  counsels,  in  promoting  letters  and  arts.  Through  her  pa¬ 
tronage,  Salamanca  rose  to  that  height  which  it  assumed  among 
the  learned  institutions  of  the  age.  She  promoted  the  distribu- 


*  Garibay,  Hist,  de  Espana,  tom.  ii.  Kb.  xviii.  cap.  1. 

t  Several  suits  of  armor  cap-a-pii ,  worn  by  Isabella,  and  still  preserved  in  the 
royal  arsenal  at  Madrid,  show  that  she  was  exposed  to  personal  danger  in  her  cam¬ 
paigns. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBVS. 


57 


tion  of  honors  and  rewards  for  the  promulgation  of  knowledge; 
she  fostered  the  art  of  printing  recently  invented,  and  encour¬ 
aged  the  establishment  of  presses  in  every  part  of  the  kingdom; 
books  were  admitted  free  of  ail  duty,  and  more,  we  are  told, 
were  printed  in  Spain,  at  that  early  period  of  the  art,  than  in 
the  present  literary  age.* 

It  is  wonderful  how  much  the  destinies  of  countries  depend 
at  times  upon  the  virtues  of  individuals,  and  how  it  is  given  to 
great  spirits  by  combining,  exciting,  and  directing  the  latent 
powers  of  a  nation,  to  stamp  it,  as  it  were,  with  their  own  great¬ 
ness.  Such  beings  realize  the  idea  of  guardian  angels,  appointed 
by  Heaven  to  watch  over  the  destinies  of  empires.  Such  had 
been  Prince  Henry  for  the  kingdom  of  Portugal ;  and  such  was 
now  for  Spain  the  illustrious  Isabella. 


CHAPTER  II. 

COLUMBUS  AT  THE  COURT  OF  SPAIN'. 

When  Columbus  arrived  at  Cordova  he  was  given  in  charge 
to  Alonzo  de  Quintanilla,  comptroller  of  the  treasury  of  Cas¬ 
tile,  but  was  disappointed  in  his  expectation  of  receiving  im¬ 
mediate  audience  from  the  queen.  He  found  the  city  in  all  the 
bustle  of  military  preparation.  It  was  a  critical  juncture  of 
the  war.  The  rival  kings  of  Granada,  Muley,  Boabdil  the 
uncle,  and  Mohammed  Boabdil  the  nephew,  had  just  formed  a 
coalition,  and  their  league  called  for  prompt  and  vigorous 
measures. 

All  the  chivalry  of  Spain  had  been  summoned  to  the  field ; 
the  streets  of  Cordova  echoed  to  the  tramp  of  steed  and  sound 
of  trumpet,  as  day  by  day  the  nobles  arrived  with  their  re¬ 
tainers,  vying  with  each  other  in  the  number  of  their  troops 
and  the  splendor  of  their  appointments.  The  court  was  like  a 
military  camp;  the  king  and  queen  were  surrounded  by  the 
flower  of  Spanish  chivalry ;  by  those  veteran  cavaliers  who  had 
distinguished  themselves  in  so  many  hardy  conflicts  with  the 
Moors,  and  by  the  prelates  and  friars  who  mingled  in  martial 
council,  and  took  deep  interest  and  agency  in  this  war  of  the 
Faith. 


*  Elogio  de  la  Reina  Oatholioa,  por  Diego  Clemewciu.  Madrid,  1831- 


58 


LIFE  OF  CnniSTOPIIER  COLUMBUS . 


This  was  an  unpropitious  moment  to  urge  a  suit  like  that  of 
Columbus.  In  fact  the  sovereigns  had  not  a  moment  of  leisure 
throughout  this  eventful  year.  Early  in  the  spring,  the  king 
marched  off  to  lay  siege  to  the  Moorish  city  of  Loxa;  and 
though  the  queen  remained  at  Cordova,  she  was  continually 
employed  in  forwarding  troops  and  supplies  to  the  army,  and, 
at  the  same  time,  attending  to  the  multiplied  exigencies  of 
civil  government.  On  the  12th  of  June  she  repaired  to  the 
camp,  then  engaged  in  the  siege  of  Moclin,  and  both  sovereigns 
remained  for  some  time  in  the  Vega  of  Granada,  prosecuting 
the  war  with  unremitting  vigor.  They  had  barely  returned  to 
Cordova  to  celebrate  their  victories  by  public  rejoicings,  when 
they  were  obliged  to  set  out  for  Gallicia,  to  suppress  a  rebel¬ 
lion  of  the  Count  of  Lemos.  Thence  they  repaired  to  Sala¬ 
manca  for  the  winter. 

During  the  summer  and  autumn  of  this  year  Columbus  re¬ 
mained  at  Cordova,  a  guest  in  the  house  of  Alonzo  de  Quinta¬ 
nilla,  who  proved  a  warm  advocate  of  his  theory.  Through 
his  means  he  became  acquainted  with  Antonio  Geraldini,  tlie 
pope’s  nuncio,  and  his  brother  Alexander  Geraldini,  precep¬ 
tor  to  the  younger  children  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella;  both 
valuable  friends  about  court.  Wherever  he  obtained  a  candid 
hearing  from  intelligent  auditors,  the  dignity  of  his  manners, 
his  earnest  sincerity,  the  elevation  of  his  views,  and  the  practi¬ 
cal  shrewdness  of  his  demonstrations,  commanded  respect  even 
where  they  failed  to  produce  conviction. 

While  thus  lingering  in  idle  suspense  in  Cordova,  he  became 
attached  to  a  lady  of  the  city,  Beatrix  Euriquez  by  name,  of 
a  noble  family,  though  in  reduced  circumstances.  Their  con¬ 
nection  was  not  sanctioned  by  marriage;  yet  he  cherished 
sentiments  of  respect  and  tenderness  for  her  to  his  dying  day. 
She  was  the  mother  of  his  second  son,  Fernando,  born  m  the 
following  year  (1487),  whom  he  always  treated  on  terms  of  per¬ 
fect  equality  with  his  legitimate  son  Diego,  and  who,  after  his 
death,  became  his  historian. 

In  the  winter  Columbus  followed  the  court  to  Salamanca. 
Here  his  zealous  friend,  Alonzo  de  Quintanilla,  exerted  his  in¬ 
fluence  to  obtain  for  him  the  countenance  of  the  celebrated 
Pedro  Gonzalez  de  Mendoza,  Archbishop  of  Toledo,  and  Grand 
Cardinal  of  Spain.  This  was  the  most  important  personage 
about  the  court;  and  was  facetiously  called  by  Peter  Martyr, 
the  “third  king  of  Spain.”  The  king  and  queen  had  him  al¬ 
ways  by  their  side  in  peace  and  war.  He  accompanied  them 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


59 


in  their  campaigns,  and  they  never  took  any  measure  of  con¬ 
sequence  without  consulting  him.  He  was  a  man  of  sound 
judgment  and  quick  intellect,  eloquent  in  conversation,  and 
able  in  the  dispatch  of  business.  His  appearance  was  lofty  and 
venerable ;  he  was  simple  yet  curiously  nice  in  his  apparel,  and 
of  gracious  and  gentle  deportment.  Though  an  elegant  scholar, 
yet,  like  many  learned  men  of  his  day,  he  was  but  little  skilled 
in  cosmography.  When  the  theory  of  Columbus  was  first 
mentioned  to  him,  it  struck  him  as  involving  heterodox  opin¬ 
ions,  incompatible  with  the  form  of  the  earth  as  described  in 
the  Sacred  Scriptures.  Further  explanations  had  their  force 
with  a  man  of  his  quick  apprehension  and  sound  sense.  He 
perceived  that  at  any  rate  there  could  be  nothing  irreligious  in 
attempting  to  extend  the  bounds  of  human  knowledge,  and  to 
ascertain  the  works  of  creation :  his  scruples  once  removed,  he 
permitted  Columbus  to  be  introduced  to  him,  and  gave  him  a 
courteous  reception.  The  latter  knew  the  importance  of  his 
auditor,  and  that  a  conference  with  the  grand  cardinal  was  al¬ 
most  equivalent  to  a  communication  with  the  throne;  he 
exerted  himself  to  the  utmost,  therefore,  to  explain  and  demon¬ 
strate  his  proposition.  The  clear-headed  cardinal  listened  with 
profound  attention.  He  was  pleased  with  the  noble  and  earnest 
manner  of  Columbus,  which  showed  him  to  be  no  common 
schemer ;  he  felt  the  grandeur,  and,  at  the  same  time,  the  sim¬ 
plicity  of  his  theory,  and  the  force  of  many  of  the  arguments 
by  which  it  was  supported.  He  determined  that  it  was  a  mat¬ 
ter  highly  worthy  of  the  consideration  of  the  sovereigns,  and 
through  his  representations  Columbus  at  length  obtained  ad¬ 
mission  to  the  royal  presence.  * 

We  have  but  scanty  particulars  of  this  audience,  nor  can  we 
ascertain  whether  Queen  Isabella  was  present  on  the  occasion ; 
the  contrary  seems  to  be  most  probably  the  case.  Columbus 
appeared  in  the  royal  presence  with  modesty,  yet  self-posses¬ 
sion,  neither  dazzled  nor  daunted  by  the  splendor  of  the  court 
or  the  awful  majesty  of  the  throne.  He  unfolded  his  plan  with 
eloquence  and  zeal,  for  he  felt  himself,  as  he  afterward  declared, 
kindled  as  with  a  fire  from  on  high,  and  considered  himself  the 
agent  chosen  by  Heaven  to  accomplish  its  grand  designs.! 

Ferdinand  was  too  keen  a  judge  of  men  not  to  appreciate  the 
character  of  Columbus.  He  perceived  that,  however  soaring 


*  Oviedo,  lib.  ii.  cap  4.  Salazar.  Cron.  G.  Cardinal,  lib.  i.  cap.  68. 
finite r  to  tbe  Sovereigns  in  1501. 


60 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


might  be  his  imagination,  and  vast  and  visionary  his  views, 
his  scheme  had  scientific  and  practical  foundation.  His  ambh 
tion  was  excited  by  the  possibility  of  discoveries  far  more  inn 
portant  than  those  which  had  shed  such  glory  upon  Portugal ; 
and  perhaps  it  was  not  the  least  recommendation  of  the  enter¬ 
prise  to  this  subtle  and  grasping  monarch,  that,  if  successful, 
it  would  enable  him  to  forestall  that  rival  nation  in  the  fruits 
of  their  long  and  arduous  struggle,  and  by  opening  a  direct 
course  to  India  across  the  ocean,  to  bear  off  from  them  the 
monopoly  of  oriental  commerce. 

Still  as  usual,  Ferdinand  was  cool  and  wary,  and  would  not 
trust  his  own  judgment  in  a  matter  that  involved  so  many 
principles  of  science.  He  determined  to  take  the  opinion  of 
the  most  learned  men  in  the  kingdom,  and  to  be  guided  by 
their  decision.  Fernando  de  Talavera,  prior  of  the  monastery 
of  Prado  and  confessor  of  the  queen,  one  of  the  most  erudite 
men  of  Spain,  and  high  in  the  royal  confidence,  was  commanded 
to  assemble  the  most  learned  astronomers  and  cosmographers 
for  the  purpose  of  holding  a  conference  with  Columbus,  and 
examining  him  as  to  the  grounds  on  which  he  founded  his 
proposition.  After  they  had  informed  themselves  fully  on  the 
subject,  they  were  to  consult  together  and  make  a  report  to 
the  sovereign  of  their  collective  opinion.* 


CHAPTER  HI. 

COLUMBUS  BEFORE  THE  COUNCIL  AT  SALAMANCA, 

[1487.] 

The  interesting  conference  relative  to  the  proposition  of 
Columbus  took  place  in  Salamanca,  the  great  seat  of  learning  in 
Spain.  It  was  held  in  the  Dominican  convent  of  St.  Stephen, 
in  which  he  was  lodged  and  entertained  with  great  hospitality 
during  the  course  of  the  examination.! 

Religion  and  science  were  at  that  time,  and  more  especially 
in  that  country,  closely  associated.  The  treasures  of  learning 
were  immured  in  monasteries,  and  the  professors’  chairs  were 


*  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  xi. 
t  Hist,  de  Chiapa  por  Remesal,  lib.  ii.  cap.  37, 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


61 


exclusively  filled  from  the  cloister.  The  domination  of  the 
clergy  extended  over  the  state  as  well  as  the  church,  and  posts 
of  honor  and  influence  at  court,  with  thp  exception  of  hereditary 
nobles,  were  almost  entirely  confined  to  ecclesiastics.  It  was 
even  common  to  find  cardinals  and  bishops  in  helm  and  corse¬ 
let  at  the  head  of  armies ;  for  the  crosier  had  been  occasionally 
thrown  by  for  the  lance,  during  the  holy  war  against  the 
Moors.  The  era  was  distinguished  for  the  revival  of  learning, 
but  still  more  for  the  prevalence  of  religious  zeal,  and  Spain 
surpassed  all  other  countries  of  Christendom  in  the  fervor  of 
her  devotion.  The  Inquisition  had  just  been  established  in 
that  kingdom,  and  every  opinion  that  savored  of  heresy  made 
its  owner  obnoxious  to  odium  and  persecution. 

Such  was  the  period  when  a  council  of  clerical  sages  was  con¬ 
vened  in  the  collegiate  convent  of  St.  Stephen,  to  investigate 
the  new  theory  of  Columbus.  It  was  composed  of  professors  of 
astronomy,  geography,  mathematics,  and  other  branches  of 
science,  together  with  various  dignitaries  of  the  church,  and 
learned  friars.  Before  this  erudite  assembly,  Columbus  pre¬ 
sented  himself  to  propound  and  defend  his  conclusions.  He 
had  been  scoffed  at  as  a  visionary  by  the  vulgar  and  the  igno¬ 
rant  ;  but  he  was  convinced  that  he  only  required  a  body  of 
enlightened  men  to  listen  dispassionately  to  his  reasonings,  to 
insure  triumphant  conviction. 

The  greater  part  of  this  learned  junto,  it  is  very  probable, 
came  prepossessed  against  him,  as  men  in  place  and  dignity  are 
apt  to  be  against  poor  applicants.  There  is  always  a  proneness 
to  consider  a  man  under  examination  as  a  kind  of  delinquent, 
or  impostor,  whose  faults  and  errors  are  to  be  detected  and 
exposed.  Columbus,  too,  appeared  in  a  most  unfavorable  light 
before  a  scholastic  body :  an  obscure  navigator,  a  member  of  no 
learned  institution,  destitute  of  all  the  trappings  and  circum¬ 
stances  which  sometimes  give  oracular  authority  to  dulness, 
and  depending  upon  the  mere  force  of  natural  genius.  Some 
of  the  junto  entertained  the  popular  notion  that  he  was  an 
adventurer,  or  at  best  a  visionary ;  and  others  had  that  morbid 
impatience  of  any  innovation  upon  established  doctrine,  which 
is  apt  to  grow  upon  dull  and  pedantic  men  in  cloistered  life. 

What  a  striking  spectacle  must  the  hall  of  the  old  convent 
have  presented  at  this  memorable  conference !  A  simple  mari¬ 
ner,  standing  forth  in  the  midst  of  an  imposing  array  of  pro¬ 
fessors,  friars,  and  dignitaries  of  the  church ;  maintaining  his 
theory  with  natural  eloquence,  and,  as  it  were,  pleading  the 


62 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  CO  LUMP  ITS. 


cause  of  the  new  world.  We  are  told  that  when  he  began  to 
state  the  grounds  of  his  belief,  the  friars  of  St.  Stephen  alone 
paid  attention  to  him  ;*  that  convent  being  more  learned  in  the 
sciences  than  the  rest  of  the  university.  The  others  appear  to 
have  intrenched  themselves  behind  one  dogged  position  that, 
after  so  many  profound  philosophers  and  cosmographers  had 
been  studying  the  form  of  the  world,  and  so  many  able  navi-' 
gators  had  been  sailing  about  it  for  several  thousand  years,  it 
was  great  presumption  in  an  ordinary  man  to  suppose  that 
there  remained  such  a  vast  discovery  for  him  to  make. 

Several  of  the  objections  proposed  by  this  learned  body  have 
been  handed  down  to  us,  and  have  provoked  many  a  sneer  at 
the  expense  of  the  university  of  Salamanca ;  but  they  are  proofs, 
not  so  much  of  the  peculiar  deficiency  of  that  institution,  as  oi 
the  imperfect  state  of  science  at  the  time,  and  the  manner  iu 
which  knowledge,  though  rapidly  extending,  was  still  impeded 
in  its  progress  by  monastic  bigotry.  All  subjects  were  still 
contemplated  through  the  obscure  medium  of  those  ages  when 
the  lights  of  antiquity  were  trampled  out  and  faith  was  left  to 
fill  the  place  of  inquiry.  Bewildered  in  a  maze  of  religious  con¬ 
troversy,  mankind  had  retraced  their  steps,  and  receded  from 
the  boundary  line  of  ancient  knowledge.  Thus,  at  the  very 
threshold  of  the  discussion,  instead  of  geographical  objections, 
Columbus  was  assailed  with  citations  from  the  Bible  and  the 
Testament:  the  book  of  Genesis,  the  psalms  of  David,  the 
prophets,  the  epistles,  and  the  gospels.  To  these  were  added 
the  expositions  of  various  saints  and  reverend  commentators : 
St.  Chrysostom  and  St.  Augustine,  St.  Jerome  and  St.  Gregory, 
St.  Basil  and  St.  Ambrose,  and  Lactantius  Firmianus,  a  re¬ 
doubted  champion  of  the  faith.  Doctrinal  points  were  mixed 
up  with  philosophical  discussions,  and  a  mathematical  demon¬ 
stration  was  allowed  no  weight,  if  it  appeared  to  clash  with  a 
text  of  Scripture  or  a  commentary  of  one  of  the  fathers.  Thus 
the  possibility  of  antipodes,  in  the  southern  hemisphere,  an 
opinion  so  generally  maintained  by  the  wisest  of  the  ancients 
as  to  be  pronounced  by  Pliny  the  great  contest  between  the 
learned  and  the  ignorant,  became  a  stumbling-block  with  some 
of  the  sages  of  Salamanca.  Several  of  them  stoutly  contradict¬ 
ed  this  fundamental  position  of  Columbus,  supporting  them¬ 
selves  by  quotations  from  Lactantius  and  St.  Augustine,  who 
were  considered  in  those  days  as  almost  evangelical  authority. 


*  Remesal,  Hist,  de  jChiapa,  lib.  xi,  cap.  7. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


69 


But,  though  these  writers  were  men  of  consummate  erudition, 
and  two  of  the  greatest  luminaries  of  what  has  been  called  the 
golden  age  of  ecclesiastical  learning,  yet  their  writings  were 
calculated  to  perpetuate  darkness  in  respect  to  the  sciences. 

The  passage  cited  from  Lactantius  to  confute  Columbus  is  in 
a  strain  of  gross  ridicule,  unworthy  of  so  grave  a  theologian. 
“Is  there  any  one  so  foolish,”  he  asks,  “as  to  believe  that  there 
are  antipodes  with  their  feet  opposite  to  ours :  people  who  walk 
with  their  heels  upward,  and  their  heads  hanging  down?  That 
there  is  a  part  of  the  world  in  which  all  things  are  topsy-turvy ; 
where  the  trees  grow  with  their  branches  downward,  and  where 
it  rains,  hails,  and  snows  upward?  The  idea  of  the  roundness 
of  the  earth,”  he  adds,  “was  the  cause  of  inventing  this  fable  of 
the  antipodes,  with  their  heels  in  the  air ;  for  these  philosophers, 
having  once  erred,  go  on  in  their  absurdities,  defending  one 
with  another.” 

Objections  of  a  graver  nature  were  advanced  on  the  authority 
of  St.  Augustine.  He  pronounces  the  doctrine  of  antipodes  to 
be  incompatible  with  the  historical  foundations  of  our  faith; 
since,  to  assert  that  there  were  inhabited  lands  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  globe  would  be  to  maintain  that  there  were  nations 
not  descended  from  Adam,  it  being  impossible  for  them  to  have 
passed  the  *  tervening  ocean.  This  would  be,  therefore,  to 
discredit  the  Bible,  which  expressly  declares  that  all  men  are 
descended  from  one  common  parent. 

Such  were  the  unlooked  for  prejudices  which  Columbus  had 
to  encounter  at  the  very  outset  of  his  conference,  and  which 
certainly  relish  more  of  the  convent  than  the  university.  To 
his  simplest  proposition,  the  spherical  form  of  the  earth,  were 
opposed  figurative  texts  of  Scripture.  They  observed  that  in 
the  Psalms  the  heavens  are  said  to  be  extended  like  a  hide,* 
that  is,  according  to  commentators,  the  curtain  or  covering  of 
a  tent,  which,  among  the  ancient  pastoral  nations,  was  formed 
of  the  hides  of  animals ;  and  that  St.  Paul,  in  his  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews,  compares  the  heavens  to  a  tabernacle,  or  tent,  ex¬ 
tended  over  the  earth,  which  they  thence  inferred  must  be  flat. 

Columbus,  who  was  a  devoutly  religious  man,  found  that  lie 
was  in  danger  of  being  convicted  not  merely  of  error,  but  of 
heterodoxy.  Others  more  versed  in  science  admitted  the  glo¬ 
bular  form  of  the  earth,  and  the  possibility  of  an  opposite  and 


*  Extendens  cceliun  sicut>  pellem.  Psalm  103.  In  the  English  translation  it  ip 
Psalm  104,  ver  & 


64 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  C0LUMBV8. 


habitable  hemisphere ;  but  they  brought  up  the  chimera  of  the 
ancients,  and  maintained  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  arrive 
there,  in  consequence  of  the  insupportable  heat  of  the  torrid 
zone.  Even  granting  this  could  be  passed,  they  observed  that 
the  circumference  of  the  earth  must  be  so  great  as  to  require 
at  least  three  years  to  the  voyage,  and  those  who  should  under¬ 
take  it  must  perish  of  hunger  and  thirst,  from  the  impossibility 
of  carrying  provisions  for  so  long  a  period.  He  was  told,  on 
the  authority  of  Epicurus,  that,  admitting  the  earth  to  be 
spherical,  it  was  only  inhabitable  in  the  northern  hemisphere, 
and  in  that  section  only  was  canopied  by  the  heavens ;  that  the 
opposite  half  was  a  chaos,  a  gulf,  or  a  mere  waste  of  water. 
Not  the  least  absurd  objection  advanced  was,  that  should  a 
ship  even  succeed  in  reaching,  in  this  way,  the  extremity  of 
India,  she  could  never  get  back  again ;  for  the  rotundity  of  the 
globe  would  present  a  kind  of  mountain,  up  which  it  would  be 
impossible  for  her  to  sail  with  the  most  favorable  wind.* 

Such  are  specimens  of  the  errors  and  prejudices,  the  mingled 
ignorance  and  erudition,  and  the  pedantic  bigotry,  with  which 
Columbus  had  to  contend  throughout  the  examination  of  his 
theory.  Can  we  wonder  at  the  difficulties  and  delays  which  he 
experienced  at  courts,  when  such  vague  and  crude  notions 
were  entertained  by  the  learned  men  of  a  university?  We 
must  not  suppose,  however,  because  the  objections  here  cited 
are  all  which  remain  on  record,  that  they  are  all  which  were 
advanced;  these  only  have  been  perpetuated  on  account  of 
their  superior  absurdity.  They  were  probably  advanced  by 
but  few,  and  those  persons  immersed  in  theological  studies,  in 
cloistered  retirement,  where  the  erroneous  opinions  derived 
from  books  had  little  opportunity  of  being  corrected  by  the  ex¬ 
perience  of  the  day. 

There  were  no  doubt  objections  advanced  more  cogent  in 
their  nature,  and  more  worthy  of  that  distinguished  univer¬ 
sity.  It  is  but  justice  to  add,  also,  that  the  replies  of  Columbus 
had  great  weight  with  many  of  his  learned  examiners.  In 
answer  to  the  scriptural  objections,  he  submitted  that  the  in¬ 
spired  writers  were  not  speaking  technically  as  cosmographers, 
but  figuratively,  in  language  addressed  to  all  comprehensions. 
The  commentaries  of  the  fathers  he  treated  with  deference  as 
pious  homilies,  but  not  as  philosophical  propositions  which  it 
was  necessary  either  to  admit  or  refute.  The  objections  drawn 


*  Hist,  dol  Almirante,  cap.  11. 


■4 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPH  Ell  COLUMBUS. 


65 


from  ancient  philosophers  he  met  baldly  and  ably  upon  equal 
terms ;  for  he  was  deeply  studied  on  all  points  of  cosmography. 
He  showed  that  the  most  illustrious  of  those  sages  believed 
both  hemispheres  to  be  inhabitable,  though  they  imagined  that 
the  torrid  zone  precluded  communication ;  and  he  obviated  con¬ 
clusively  that  difficulty ;  for  he  had  voyaged  to  St.  George  la 
Mina  in  Guinea,  almost  under  the  equinoctial  line,  and  had 
found  that  region  not  merely  traversable,  but  abounding  in 
population,  in  fruits  and  pasturage. 

When  Columbus  took  his  stand  before  this  learned  body,  he  had 
appeared  the  plain  and  simple  navigator;  somewhat  daunted, 
perhaps,  by  the  greatness  of  his  task  and  the  august  nature  of 
his  auditory.  But  he  had  a  degree  of  religious  feeling  which 
gave  him  a  confidence  in  the  execution  of  what  he  conceived 
his  great  errand,  and  he  was  of  an  ardent  temperament  that 
became  heated  in  action  by  its  own  generous  fires.  Las  Casas, 
and  others  of  his  contemporaries,  have  spoken  of  his  command¬ 
ing  person,  his  elevated  demeanor,  his  air  of  authority,  his 
kindling  eye,  and  the  persuasive  intonations  of  his  voice.  How 
must  they  have  given  majesty  and  force  to  his  words,  as, 
casting  aside  his  maps  and  charts,  and  discarding  for  a  time  his 
practical  and  scientific  lore,  his  visionary  spirit  took  fire  at  the 
doctrinal  objections  of  his  opponents,  and  he  met  them  upon 
their  own  ground,  pouring  forth  those  magnificent  texts  of 
Scripture,  and  those  mysterious  predictions  of  the  prophets, 
which,  in  his  enthusiastic  moments,  he  considered  as  types  and 
annunciations  of  the  sublime  discovery  which  he  proposed ! 

Among  the  number  who  were  convinced  by  the  reasoning, 
and  warmed  by  the  eloquence  of  Columbus,  was  Diego  de 
Deza,  a  worthy  and  learned  friar  of  the  order  of  St.  Dominick, 
at  that  time  professor  of  theology  in  the  convent  of  St.  Stephen, 
but  who  became  afterward  Archbishop  of  Seville,  the  second 
ecclesiastical  dignitary  of  Spain.  This  able  and  erudite  divine 
was  a  man  whose  mind  was  above  the  narrow  bigotry  of  book¬ 
ish  lore ;  one  who  could  appreciate  the  value  of  wisdom  even 
when  uttered  by  unlearned  lips.  He  was  not  a  mere  passive 
auditor :  he  took  a  generous  interest  in  the  cause,  and  by  sec¬ 
onding  Columbus  with  all  his  powers,  calmed  the  blind  zeal  of 
his  more  bigoted  brethren  so  as  to  obtain  for  him  a  dispassion¬ 
ate,  if  not  an  unprejudiced,  hearing.  By  their  united  efforts,  it 
is  said,  they  brought  over  the  most  learned  men  of  the  schools.* 


*  Remesal,  Hist,  de  Chiapa,  lib.  xi.  cap.  7. 


66 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPH ER  COLUMBUS. 


One  great  difficulty  was  to  reconcile  the  plan  of  Columbus  with 
the  cosmography  of  Ptolemy,  to  which  all  scholars  yielded  im¬ 
plicit  faith.  How  would  the  most  enlightened  of  those  sages 
have  been  astonished,  had  any  one  apprised  them  that  the  man, 
Copernicus,  was  then  in  existence,  whose  solar  system  should 
reverse  the  grand  theory  of  Ptolemy,  which  stationed  the  earth 
in  the  centre  of  the  universe ! 

Notwithstanding  every  exertion,  however,  there  was  a  pre¬ 
ponderating  mass  of  inert  bigotry  and  learned  pride  in  this 
erudite  body,  which  refused  to  yield  to  the  demonstrations  of 
an  obscure  foreigner,  without  fortune  or  connections,  or  any 
academic  honors.  “ It  was  requisite, ”  say s  Las  Casas,  “before 
Columbus  could  make  his  solutions  and  reasonings  understood, 
that  he  should  remove  from  his  auditors  those  erroneous  prin¬ 
ciples  on  which  their  objections  were  founded-  a  task  always 
more  difficult  than  that  of  teaching  the  doctrine.  ”  Occasional 
conferences  took  place,  but  without  producing  any  decision. 
The  ignorant,  or  what  is  worse,  the  prejudiced,  remained  obsti¬ 
nate  in  their  opposition,  with  the  dogged  perseverance  of  dull 
men ;  the  more  liberal  and  intelligent  felt  little  interest  in  dis¬ 
cussions  wearisome  in  themselves,  and  foreign  to  their  ordinary 
pursuits*;  even  those  who  listened  with  approbation  to  the  plan, 
regarded  it  only  as  a  delightful  vision,  full  of  probability  and 
promise,  but  one  which  never  could  be  realized.  Fernando  de 
Talavera,  to  whom  the  matter  was  especially  intrusted,  had  too 
little  esteem  for  it,  and  was  too  much  occupied  with  the  stir 
and  bustle  of  public  concerns,  to  press  it  to  a  conclusion ;  and 
thus  the  inquiry  experienced  continual  procrastination  and 
neglect. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

FURTHER  APPLICATIONS  AT  THE  COURT  OF  CASTILE— COLUMBUS 
FOLLOWS  THE  COURT  IN  ITS  CAMPAIGNS. 

The  Castilian  court  departed  from  Salamanca  early  in  the 
spring  of  1487  and  repaired  to  Cordova,  to  prepare  for  the 
memorable  campaign  against  Malaga.  Fernando  de  Talavera, 
now  Bishop  of  Avila,  accompanied  the  queen  as  her  confessor, 
and  as  one  of  her  spiritual  counsellors  in  the  concerns  of  the 
war.  The  consultations  of  the  board  at  Salamanca  were  inter- 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


67 


rupted  by  this  event,  before  that  learned  body  could  come  to  a 
decision,  and  for  a  long  time  Columbus  was  kept  in  suspense, 
vainly  awaiting  the  report  that  was  to  decide  the  fate  of  his 
application. 

It  has  generally  been  supposed  that  the  several  years  which 
he  wasted  in  irksome  solicitation  were  spent  in  the  drowsy  and 
monotonous  attendance  of  antechambers ;  but  it  appears,  on  the 
contrary,  that  they  were  often  passed  amid  scenes  of  peril  and 
adventure,  and  that,  in  following  up  his  suit,  he  was  led  into 
some  of  the  most  striking  situations  of  this  wild,  rugged,  and 
mountainous  war.  Several  times  he  was  summoned  to  attend 
conferences  in  the  vicinity  of  the  sovereigns,  when  besieging 
cities  in  the  very  heart  of  the  Moorish  dominions ;  but  the  tem¬ 
pest  of  warlike  affairs  which  hurried  the  court  from  place  to 
place  and  gave  it  all  the  bustle  and  confusion  of  a  camp,  pre¬ 
vented  those  conferences  from  taking  place,  and  swept  away 
all  concerns  that  were  not  immediately  connected  with  the 
war.  Whenever  the  court  had  an  interval  of  leisure  and 
repose,  there  would  again  be  manifested  a  disposition  to  con¬ 
sider  his  proposal,  but  the  hurry  and  tempest  would  again 
return  and  the  question  be  again  swept  away. 

The  spring  campaign  of  1487,  which  took  place  shortly  after 
the  conference  at  Salamanca,  was  full  of  incident  and  peril. 
King  Ferdinand  had  nearly  been  surprised  and  cut  off  by  the 
old  Moorish  monarch  before  Velez  Malaga,  and  the  queen  and 
all  the  court  at  Cordova  were  for  a  time  in  an  agony  of  terror 
and  suspense  until  assured  of  his  safety. 

When  the  sovereigns  were  subsequently  encamped  before  the 
city  of  Malaga,  pressing  its  memorable  siege,  Columbus  was 
summoned  to  the  court.  He  found  it  drawn  up  in  its  silken 
pavilions  on  a  rising  ground,  commanding  the  fertile  valley  of 
Malaga;  the  encampments  of  the  warlike  nobility  of  Spain 
extended  in  a  semicircle  on  each  side,  to  the  shores  of  the  sea, 
strongly  fortified,  glittering  with  the  martial  pomp  of  that 
chivalrous  age  and  nation,  and  closely  investing  that  important 
city. 

The  siege  was  protracted  for  several  months,  but  the  vigorous 
defence  of  the  Moors,  their  numerous  stratagems,  and  fiei*ee 
and  frequent  sallies,  allowed  but  little  leisure  in  the  camp.  In 
the  course  of  this  siege,  the  application  of  Columbus  to  the 
sovereigns  was  nearly  brought  to  a  violent  close;  a  fanatic 
Moor  having  attempted  to  assassinate  Ferdinand  and  Isabella. 
Mistaking  one  of  the  gorgeous  pavilions  of  the  nobility  for  the 


68 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


royal  tent,  he  attacked  Don  Alvaro  de  Portugal,  and  Doha 
Beatrix  de  Bobadilla,  Marchioness  of  Moya,  instead  of  the  king 
and  queen.  After  wounding  Don  Alvaro  dangerously,  he  was 
foiled  in  a  blow  aimed  at  the  marchioness,  and  immediately  cut 
to  pieces  by  the  attendants.*  The  lady  here  mentioned  was  ot 
extraordinary  merit  and  force  of  character.  She  eventually 
took  a  great  interest  in  the  suit  of  Columbus,  and  had  much 
influence  in  recommending  it  to  the  queen,  with  whom  she  was 
a  particular  favorite,  f 

Malaga  surrendered  on  the  18th  of  August,  1487.  There  ap¬ 
pears  to  have  been  no  time  during  its  stormy  siege  to  attend  to 
the  question  of  Columbus,  though  Fernando  de  Talavera,  the 
Bishop  of  Avila,  was  present,  as  appears  by  his  entering  the 
captured  city  in  solemn  and  religious  triumph.  The  campaign 
being  ended,  the  court  returned  to  Cordova,  but  was  almost 
immediately  driven  from  that  city  by  the  pestilence. 

For  upward  of  a  year  the  court  was  in  a  state  of  continual 
migration ;  part  of  the  time  in  Saragossa,  part  of  the  time  in¬ 
vading  the  Moorish  territories  by  the  way  of  Murcia,  and  part 
of  the  time  in  Valladolid  and  Medina  del  Campo.  Columbus 
attended  it  in  some  of  its  movements,  but  it  was  vain  to  seek  a 
quiet  and  attentive  hearing  from  a  court  surrounded  by  the  din 
of  arms  and  continually  on  the  march.  Wearied  and  discour¬ 
aged  by  these  delays,  he  began  to  think  of  applying  elsewhere 
for  patronage,  and  appears  to  have  commenced  negotiations 
with  King  John  II.  for  a  return  to  Portugal.  He  wrote  to  that 
monarch  on  the  subject,  and  received  a  letter  in  reply  dated 
20th  of  March,  1488,  inviting  him  to  return  to  his  court,  and 
assuring  him  of  protection  from  any  suits  of  either  a  civil  or 
criminal  nature,  that  might  be  pending  against  him.  He 
received  also  a  letter  from  Henry  VII.  of  England,  inviting 
him  to  that  country,  and  holding  out  promises  of  encourage¬ 
ment. 

There  must  have  been  strong  hopes,  authorized  about  this 
time  by  the  conduct  of  the  Spanish  sovereigns,  to  induce  Colum¬ 
bus  to  neglect  these  invitations ;  and  we  find  ground  for  such  a 
supposition  in  a  memorandum  of  a  sum  of  money  paid  to  him 
by  the  treasurer  Gonzalez,  to  enable  him  to  comply  with  a 
summons  to  attend  the  Castilian  court.  By  the  date  of  this 
memorandum,  the  payment  must  have  been  made  immediately 


*  Pulgar,  Cronica,  cap.  87.  P.  Martyr, 
t  Betrato  del  Buea  Vassallo,  lib.  ii.  cap.  16. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


69 


after  Columbus  had  received  the  letter  of  the  King  of  Portugal. 
It  would  seem  to  have  been  the  aim  of  King  Ferdinand  to  pro 
vent  his  carrying  his  proposition  to  another  and  a  rival  mon¬ 
arch,  and  to  keep  the  matter  in  suspense,  until  he  should  have 
leisure  to  examine  it,  and,  if  advisable,  to  carry  itin  to  opera¬ 
tion. 

In  the  spring  of  1489  the  long-adjourned  investigation  ap¬ 
peared  to  be  on  the  eve  of  taking  place.  Columbus  was  sum¬ 
moned  to  attend  a  conference  of  learned  men,  to  be  held  in  the 
city  of  Seville ;  a  royal  order  was  issued  for  lodgings  to  be  pro¬ 
vided  for  him  there ;  and  the  magistrates  of  all  cities  and  towns 
through  which  he  might  pass,  on  his  way,  were  commanded  to 
furnish  accommodations  gratis  for  himself  and  his  attendants. 
A  provision  of  the  kind  was  necessary  in  those  days,  when  even 
the  present  wretched  establishments,  called  posadas,  tor  the 
reception  of  travellers,  were  scarcely  known. 

The  city  of  Seville  complied  with  the  royal  command,  but  as 
usual  the  appointed  conference  was  postponed,  being  inter¬ 
rupted  by  the  opening  of  a  campaign,  “in  which,”  says  an 
old  chronicler  of  the  place,  “the  same  Columbus  was  found 
fighting,  giving  proofs  of  the  distinguished  valor  which  accom¬ 
panied  his  wisdom  and  his  lofty  desires.”  * 

The  campaign  in  which  Columbus  is  here  said  to  have  borne 
so  honorable  a  part  was  one  of  the  most  glorious  of  the  war 
of  Granada.  Queen  Isabella  attended  with  ail  her  court, 
including  as  usual  a  stately  train  of  prelates  and  friars,  among 
whom  is  particularly  mentioned  the  procrastinating  arbiter  of 
the  pretensions  of  Columbus,  Fernando  de  Talavera.  Much 
of  the  success  of  the  campaign  is  ascribed  to  the  presence  and 
counsel  of  Isabella.  The  city  of  Baza,  which  was  closely  be¬ 
sieged  and  had  resisted  valiantly  for  upward  ot  six  months, 
surrendered  soon  after  her  arrival ;  and  on  the  22d  of  Decem¬ 
ber,  Columbus  beheld  Muley  Boabdil,  the  elder  of  the  two  rival 
kings  of  Granada,  surrender  in  person  all  his  remaining  pos¬ 
sessions,  and  his  right  to  the  crown,  to  the  Spanish  sovereigns. 

During  this  siege  a  circumstance  took  place  which  appears  to 
have  made  a  deep  impression  on  the  devout  and  enthusiastic 
spirit  of  Columbus.  Two  reverend  friars  arrived  one  day  at 
the  Spanish  camp,  and  requested  admission  to  the  sovereigns 
on  business  of  great  moment.  They  were  two  of  the  brethren 
of  the  convent  established  at  the  holy  sepulchre  at  Jerusalem. 


*  Diego  Ortiz  de  Zufiiga.  Ann.  de  Sevilla,  lib.  xii.,  anno  1489,  p.  404. 


70 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


They  brought  a  message  from  the  Grand  Soldan  of  Egypt 
threatening  to  put  to  death  all  the  Christians  in  liis  dominion^ 
to  lay  waste  their  convents  and  churches,  and  to  destroy  the 
sepulchre,  if  the  sovereigns  did  not  desist  from  the  war  against 
Granada.  The  menace  had  no  effect  in  altering  the  purpose  of 
the  sovereigns,  but  Isabella  granted  a  yearly  and  perpetual 
sum  of  one  thousand  ducats  in  gold,*  for  the  support  of  the 
monks  who  had  charge  of  the  sepulchre ;  and  sent  a  veil  cm 
broidered  with  her  own  hands  to  be  hung  up  at  its  shrine,  f 

The  representations  of  these  friars  of  the  sufferings  and  in¬ 
dignities  to  which  Christians  were  subjected  in  the  Holy  Hand, 
together  with  the  arrogant  threat  of  the  Soldan,  roused  the 
pious  indignation  of  the  Spanish  cavaliers,  and  many  burned 
with  ardent  zeal  once  more  to  revive  the  contests  of  the  faith 
on  the  sacred  plains  ot  Palestine.  It  was  probably  from  con¬ 
versation  with  these  friars,  and  from  the  pious  and  chivalrous 
zeal  thus  awakened  in  the  warrior  throng  aroUnd  him,  that 
Columbus  first  conceived  an  enthusiastic  idea,  or  rather  made 
a  kind  of  mental  vow,  whicii  remained  more  or  less  present  to 
his  mind  until  the  very  day  of  his  death.  He  determined  that, 
should  his  projected  enterprise  be  successful,  he  would  devote 
the  profits  arising  from  his  anticipated  discoveries  to  a  crusade 
for  the  rescue  of  the  holy  sepulchre  from  the  power  ot  the 
infidels. 

If  the  bustle  and  turmoil  of  this-  campaign  prevented  the 
intended  conference,  the  concerns  of  Columbus  fared  no  better 
during  the  subsequent  rejoicings.  Ferdinand  and  Isabella 
entered  Seville  in  February,  1490,  with  great  pomp  and  tri¬ 
umph.  There  were  then  preparations  made  tor  the  marriage 
of  their  eldest  daughter,  the  Princess  Isabella,  with  the  Prince 
Hon  Alonzo,  heir  apparent  of  Portugal.  The  nuptials  were 
celebrated  in  the  month  of  April,  with  extraordinary  splendor. 
Throughout  the  whole  winter  and  spring  the  court  was  in  a 
continual  tumult  of  parade  and  pleasure,  and  nothing  was  to 
be  seen  at  Seville  but  feasts,  tournaments,  and  torchlight  pro¬ 
cessions.  What  chance  had  Columbus  of  being  heard  amid 
these  alternate  uproars  of  war  and  festivity? 

During  this  long  course  of  solicitation  he  supported  himself, 
in  part,  by  making  maps  and  charts,  and  was  occasionally 
assisted  by  the  purse  of  the  worthy  friar  Diego  de  Deza.  It  is 


*  Or  1423  dollars,  equivalent  to  4269  dollars  in  our  time, 
t  Garabay,  Compend.  Hist.  lib.  xviii.  cap.  36. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


71 


due  to  the  sovereigns  to  say,  also,  that  whenever  he  was  sum* 
moned  to  follow  the  movements  of  the  court,  or  to  attend  any 
appointed  consultation,  he  was  attached  to  the  royal  suite,  and 
lodgings  were  provided  for  him  and  sums  issued  to  defray  his 
expenses.  Memorandums  of  several  of  these  sums  still  exist  in 
the  book  of  accounts  of  the  royal  treasurer,  Francisco  Gen 
zalez,  of  Seville,  which  has  lately  been  found  in  the  archives  o:i 
Simancas;  and  it  is  from  these  minutes  that  we  have  been 
enabled,  in  some  degree,  to  follow  the  movements  of  Columbus 
during  his  attendance  upon  this  rambling  and  warlike  court. 

During  all  this  time  he  was  exposed  to  continual  scoffs  and 
indignities,  being  ridiculed  by  the  light  and  ignorant  as  a  mere 
dreamer,  and  stigmatized  by  the  illiberal  as  an  adventurer. 
The  very  children,  it  is  said,  pointed  to  their  foreheads  as  he 
passed,  being  taught  to  regard  him  as  a  kind  of  madman. 

The  summer  of  1490  passed  away,  but  still  Columbus  was 
kept  in  tantalizing  and  tormenting  suspense.  The  subsequent 
winter  was  not  more  propitious.  He  was  lingering  at  Cordova 
in  a  state  of  irritating  anxiety,  when  he  learnt  that  the  sove¬ 
reigns  were  preparing  to  depart  on  a  campaign  in  the  Yega  of 
Granada,  with  a  determination  never  to  raise  their  camp  from 
before  that  city  until  their  victorious  banners  should  float  upon 
its  towers. 

Columbus  was  aware  that  when  once  the  campaign  was 
opened  and  the  sovereigns  were  in  the  field,  it  would  be  in  vain 
to  expect  any  attention  to  his  suit.  He  was  wearied,  if  not 
incensed,  at  the  repeated  postponements  he  had  experienced, 
by  which  several  years  had  been  consumed.  He  now  pressed 
for  a  decisive  reply  with  an  earnestness  that  would  not  admit 
of  evasion.  Fernando  de  Talavera,  therefore,  was  called  upon 
by  the  sovereigns  to  hold  a  definitive  conference  with  the 
scientific  men  to  whom  the  project  had  been  referred,  and  to 
make  a  report  of  their  decision.  The  bishop  tardily  complied, 
and  at  length  reported  to  their  majesties,  as  the  general  opinion 
of  the  Junto,  that  the  proposed  scheme  was  vain  and  im¬ 
possible,  and  that  it  did  not  become  such  great  princes  to 
engage  in  an  enterprise  of  the  kind  on  such  weak  grounds  as 
had  been  advanced.* 

Notwithstanding  this  unfavorable  report,  the  sovereigns  were 
unwilling  to  close  the  door  upon  a  project  which  might  be  pro* 
ductive  of  such  important  advantages.  Many  of  the  learned 


*  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  2, 


72 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS . 


members  of  the  Junto  also  were  in  its  favor,  particularly  Fray 
Diego  de  Deza,  tutor  to  Prince  Juan,  who  from  his  situation 
and  clerical  character  had  access  to  the  royal  ear,  and  exerted 
himself  strenuously  in  counteracting  the  decision  of  the  board. 
A  degree  of  consideration,  also,  had  gradually  grown  up  at 
court  for  the  enterprise,  and  many  men,  distinguished  for  rank 
and  merit,  had  become  its  advocates.  Fernando  de  Talavera, 
therefore,  was  commanded  to  inform  Columbus,  who  was  still 
at  Cordova,  that  the  great  cares  and  expenses  of  the  wars 
rendered  it  impossible  for  the  sovereigns  to  engage  in  any  new 
enterprise ;  but  that  when  the  war  was  concluded  they  would 
have  both  time  and  inclination  to  treat  with  him  about  what 
he  proposed.* 

This  was  but  a  starved  reply  to  receive  after  so  many  days  of 
weary  attendance,  anxious  expectation,  and  deferred  hope ;  Co¬ 
lumbus  was  unwilling  to  receive  it  at  second  hand,  and  repaired 
to  the  court  at  Seville  to  learn  his  fate  from  the  lips  of  the 
sovereigns.  Their  reply  was  virtually  the  same,  declining  to 
engage  in  the  enterprise  for  the  present,  but  holding  out  hopes 
of  patronage  when  relieved  from  the  cares  and  expenses  of  the 
war. 

Columbus  looked  upon  this  indefinite  postponement  as  a  mere 
courtly  mode  of  evading  his  importunity,  and  supposed  that  the 
favorable  dispositions  of  the  sovereigns  had  been  counteracted 
by  the  objections  of  the  ignorant  and  bigoted.  Renouncing  all 
further  confidence,  therefore,  in  vague  promises,  which  had  so 
often  led  to  disappointment,  and  giving  up  all  hopes  of  coun¬ 
tenance  from  the  throne,  he  turned  his  back  upon  Seville,  in¬ 
dignant  at  the  thoughts  of  having  been  beguiled  out  of  so  many 
precious  years  of  waning  existence. 


CHAPTER  V. 

COLUMBUS  AT  THE  CONVENT  OF  LA  RABIDA. 

About  half  a  league  from  the  little  seaport  of  Palos  de  Moguer 
in  Andalusia  there  stood,  and  continues  to  stand  at  the  present 
day,  an  ancient  convent  of  Franciscan  friars,  dedicated  to  Santa 
Maria  de  Rabida.  One  day  a  stranger  on  foot,  m  humble  guise 


*  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  2. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


73 


but  of  a  distinguished  air,  accompanied  by  a  small  boy,  stopped 
at  the  gate  of  the  convent,  and  asked  of  the  porter  a  little  bread 
and  water  for  his  child.  While  receiving  this  humble  refresh¬ 
ment,  the  prior  of  the  convent,  Juan  Perez  de  Marchena,  hap¬ 
pening  to  pass  by,  was  struck  with  the  appearance  of  the 
stranger,  and  observing  from  his  air  and  accent  that  he  was  a 
foreigner,  entered  into  conversation  with  him,  and  soon  learned 
the  particulars  of  his  story.  That  stranger  was  Columbus.* 
He  was  on  his  way  to  the  neighboring  town  of  Huelva,  to  seek  his 
brother-in-law,  who  had  married  a  sister  of  his  deceased  wife.f 

The  prior  was  a  man  of  extensive  information.  His  attention 
had  been  turned  in  some  measure  to  geographical  and  nautical 
science,  probably  from  his  vicinity  to  Palos,  the  inhabitants  of 
which  were  among  the  most  enterprising  navigators  of  Spain, 
and  made  frequent  voyages  to  the  recently  discovered  islands 
and  countries  on  the  African  coast.  He  was  greatly  interested 
by  the  conversation  of  Columbus,  and  struck  with  the  gran¬ 
deur  of  his  views.  It  was  a  remarkable  occurrence  in  the  mo¬ 
notonous  life  of  the  cloister,  to  have  a  man  of  such  singular 
character,  intent  on  so  extraordinary  an  enterprise,  applying 
for  bread  and  water  at  the  gate  of  his  convent. 

When  he  found,  however,  that  the  voyager  was  on  the  point 
of  abandoning  Spain  to  seek  patronage  in  the  court  of  France, 
and  that  so  important  an  enterprise  was  about  to  be  lost  for¬ 
ever  to  the  country,  the  patriotism  of  the  good  friar  took  the 
alarm.  He  detained  Columbus  as  his  guest,  and,  diffident  of  his 
own  judgment,  sent  for  a  scientific  friend  to  converse  with 
him.  That  friend  was  Garcia  Fernandez,  a  physician  resident 
in  Palos,  the  same  who  furnishes  this  interesting  testimony. 
Fernandez  was  equally  struck  with  the  appearance  and  con¬ 
versation  of  the  stranger ;  several  conferences  took  place  at  the 
convent,  at  which  several  of  the  veteran  mariners  of  Palos  were 
present.  Among  these  was  Martin  Alonzo  Pinzon,  the  head  of 
a  family  of  wealthy  and  experienced  navigators  of  the  place, 
celebrated  for  their  adventurous  expeditions.  Facts  were  re¬ 
lated  by  some  of  these  navigators  in  support  of  the  theory  of 


*  “  Lo  dicho  Almirante  Colon  veniendo  4  laRabida,  que  es  un  monasterio  de  frailes 
en  esta  villa,  el  qnal  demand 6  4  la  porteria  que  le  diesen  para  aquel  nifiico.  que 
are  nino,  pan  i  agua  que  bebiese.”  The  testimony  of  Garcia  Fernandez  exists  in 
manuscript  among  the  multifarious  writings  of  the  Pleito  or  lawsuit,  which  are 
preserved  at  Seville.  I  have  made  use  of  an  authenticated  extract,  copied  for  the 
late  historian,  Juan  Baut.  Munoz. 

t  Probably  Pedro  Correo,  already  mentioned,  from  whom  he  had  received  inf<ns 
mation  of  signs  of  land  in  the  west,  observed  near  Puerto  Santo. 


74 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


Columbus.  In  a  word,  his  project  was  treated  with  a  deference 
in  the  quiet  cloisters  of  La  Rabida,  and  among  the  seafaring 
men  of  Palos,  which  had  been  sought  in  vain  among  the  sages 
and  philosophers  of  the  court.  Martin  Alonzo  Pinzon  espe¬ 
cially  was  so  convinced  of  its  feasibility  that  he  offered  to 
engage  in  it  with  purse  and  person,  and  to  bear  the  expenses 
of  Columbus  in  a  renewed  application  to  the  court. 

Friar  Juan  Perez  was  confirmed  in  his  faith  by  the  concur 
rence  of  those  learned  and  practical  councillors.  He  had  once 
been  confessor  to  the  queen,  and  knew  that  she  was  always  ac¬ 
cessible  to  persons  of  his  sacred  calling.  He  proposed  to  write 
to  her  immediately  on  the  subject,  and  entreated  Columbus  to 
delay  his  journey  until  an  answer  could  be  received.  The  latter 
was  easily  persuaded,  for  he  felt  as  if,  in  leaving  Spain,  he  was 
again  abandoning  his  home.  He  was  also  reluctant  to  renew, 
in  another  court,  the  vexations  and  disappointments  experi¬ 
enced  in  Spain  and  Portugal. 

The  little  council  at  the  convent  of  La  Rabida  now  cast  round 
their  eyes  for  an  ambassador  to  depart  upon  this  momentous 
mission.  They  chose  one  Sebastian  Rodriguez,  a  pilot  of  Lepe, 
one  of  the  most  shrewd  and  important  personages  in  this  mari¬ 
time  neighborhood.  The  queen  was  at  this  time  at  Santa  Fe, 
the  military  city  which  had  been  built  in  the  Yega  before 
Granada,  after  the  conflagration  of  the  royal  camp.  The  honest 
pilot  acquitted  himself  faithfully,  expeditiously,  and  success¬ 
fully,  in  his  embassy.  He  found  hccess  to  the  benignant  prin¬ 
cess,  and  delivered  the  epistle  of  the  friar.  Isabella  had  always 
been  favorably  disposed  to  the  proposition  of  Columbus.  She 
wrote  in  reply  to  Juan  Perez,  thanking  him  for  his  timely 
services,  and  requesting  that  he  would  repair  immediately  to 
the  court,  leaving  Christopher  Columbus  in  confident  hope 
until  he  should  hear  further  from  her.  This  royal  letter  was 
brought  back  by  the  pilot  at  the  end  of  fourteen  days,  and  spread 
great  joy  in  the  little  junto  at  the  convent.  No  sooner  did  the 
warm-hearted  friar  receive  it,  than  he  saddled  his  mule,  and  de¬ 
parted  privately,  before  midnight,  for  the  court.  He  journeyed 
through  the  conquered  countries  of  the  Moors,  and  rode  into 
the  newly-erected  city  of  Santa  Fe,  where  the  sovereigns  were 
superintending  the  close  investment  of  the  capital  of  Granada. 

The  sacred  office  of  Juan  Perez  gained  him  a  ready  entrance 
in  a  court  distinguished  for  religious  zeal ;  and,  once  admitted 
to  the  presence  of  the  queen,  his  former  relation,  as  father  con¬ 
fessor,  gave  him  great  freedom  of  counsel.  He  pleaded  the  cause 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


75 


of  Columbus  with  characteristic  enthusiasm,  speaking  from 
actual  knowledge  of  his  honorable  motives,  his  professional 
knowledge  and  experience,  and  his  perfect  capacity  to  fulfil  the 
undertaking ;  he  represented  the  solid  principles  upon  which  the 
enterprise  was  founded,  the  advantage  that  must  attend  its  suc¬ 
cess,  and  the  glory  it  must  shed  upon  the  Spanish  crown.  It  is 
probable  that  Isabella  had  never  heard  the  proposition  urged 
with  such  honest  zeal  and  impressive  eloquence.  Being  natu¬ 
rally  more  sanguine  and  susceptible  than  the  king,  and  more 
open  to  warm  and  generous  impulses,  she  was  moved  by  the 
representations  of  Juan  Perez,  which  were  warmly  seconded  by 
her  favorite,  the  Marchioness  of  Moya,  who  entered  into  the 
affair  with  a  woman’s  disinterested  enthusiasm.  *  The  queen  re¬ 
quested  that  Columbus  might  be  again  sent  to  her,  and,  with  the 
kind  considerateness  which  characterized  her,  bethinking  her¬ 
self  of  his  poverty,  and  his  humble  plight,  ordered  that  twenty 
thousand  maravedies  f  in  florins  should  be  forwarded  to  him, 
to  bear  his  travelling  expenses,  to  provide  him  with  a  mule  for 
his  journey,  and  to  furnish  him  with  decent  raiment,  that  he 
might  make  a  respectable  appearance  at  the  court. 

The  worthy  friar  lost  no  time  in  communicating  the  result  of 
his  mission;  he  transmitted  the  money,  and  -a  letter,  by  the 
hands  of  an  inhabitant  of  Palos,  to  the  physician  Garcia  Fer¬ 
nandez,  who  delivered  them  to  Columbus.  The  latter  complied 
with  the  instructions  conveyed  in  the  epistle.  He  exchanged 
his  threadbare  garb  for  one  more  suited  to  the  sphere  of  a  court, 
and,  purchasing  a  mule,  set  out  once  more,  reanimated  by 
nopes,  for  the  camp  before  Granada,  t 


*  Retrato  del  Buen  Vassallo,  lib.  ii.  cap.  16. 
t  Or  72  dollars,  and  equivalent  to  216  dollars  of  the  present;  day. 
t  Most  of  the  particulars  of  this  visit  of  Columbus  to  the  convent  of  La  Rabida  are 
from  the  testimony  rendered  by  Garcia  Fernandez  in  the  lawsuit  between  Uiagc, 
the  son  of  Columbus,  and  the  crown. 


76 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS, , 


CHAPTEE  YL 

APPLICATION  TO  THE  COURT  AT  THE  TIME  OP  THE  SURRENDER  Cl 

'  GRANADA. 

[1492.] 

When  Columbus  arrived  at  the  court,  be  experienced  a 
favorable  reception,  and  was  given  in  hospitable  charge  to  his 
steady  friend  Alonzo  de  Quintanilla,  the  accountant-general. 
The  moment,  however,  was  too  eventful  for  his  business  to  re¬ 
ceive  immediate  attention.  He  arrived  in  time  to  witness  the 
memorable  surrender  of  Granada  to  the  Spanish  arms.  He 
beheld  Boabdil,  the  last  of  the  Moorish  kings,  sally  forth  from 
the  Alhambra,  and  yield  up  the  keys  of  that  favorite  seat  of 
Moorish  power  ;  while  the  king  and  queen,  with  all  the  chivalry 
and  rank  and  magnificence  of  Spain,  moved  forward  in  proud 
and  solemn  procession,  to  receive  this  token  of  submission.  It 
was  one  of  the  most  brilliant  triumphs  in  Spanish  history. 
After  near  eight  hundred  years  of  painful  struggle,  the  crescent 
was  completely  cast  down,  the  cross  exalted  in  its  place,  an  5 
the  standard  of  Spain  was  seen  floating  on  the  highest  tower  of 
the  Alhambra.  The  whole  court  and  army  were  abandoned  to 
jubilee.  The  air  resounded  with  shouts  of  joy,  with  songs  of 
triumph,  and  hymns  of  thanksgiving.  On  every  side  were  be¬ 
held  military  rejoicings  and  religious  oblations  ;  for  it  was 
considered  a  triumph,  not  merely  of  arms,  but  of  Christianity, 
i  The  king  and  queen  moved  in  the  midst,  in  more  than  common 
magnificence,  while  every  eye  regarded  them  as  more  than 
mortal ;  as  if  sent  by  Heaven  for  the  salvation  and  building  up 
of  Spain.*  The  court  was  thronged  by  the  most  illustrious  of 
that  warlike  country,  and  stirring  era  ;  by  the  flower  of  its  no¬ 
bility,  by  the  most  dignified  of  its  prelacy,  by  bards  and  min¬ 
strels,  and  all  the  retinue  of  a  romantic  and  picturesque  age. 
There  was  nothing  but  the  glittering  of  arms,  the  rustling  of 
robes,  the  sound  of  music  and  festivity. 

Do  we  want  a  picture  of  our  navigator  during  this  brilliant 
and  triumphant  scene  ?  It  is  furnished  by  a  Spanish  writer. 


*  Mariana,  Hist,  de  Espana,  lib.  xxv.  cap.  18. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


7Y 


“  A  man  obscure  and  but  little  known  followed  at  this  time  the 
court.  Confounded  in  the  crowd  of  importunate  applicants, 
feeding  his  imagination  in  the  corners  of  antechambers  with 
the  pompous  project  of  discovering  a  world,  melancholy  and 
dejected  in  the  midst  of  the  general  rejoicing,  he  beheld  with 
indifference,  and  almost  with  contempt,  the  conclusion  of  a  con¬ 
quest  which  swelled  all  bosoms  with  jubilee,  and  seemed  to 
have  reached  the  utmost  bounds  of  desire.  That  man  was  Chris¬ 
topher  Columbus.”  * 

The  moment  had  now  arrived,  however,  when  the  monarchs 
stood  pledged  to  attend  to  his  proposals.  The  war  with  the 
floors  was  at  an  end,  Spain  was  delivered  from  its  intruders, 
and  its  sovereigns  might  securely  turn  their  views  to  foreign 
enterprise.  They  kept  their  word  with  Columbus.  Persons 
of  confidence  were  appointed  to  negotiate  with  him,  among 
whom  was  Fernando  de  Talavera,  who,  by  the  recent  conquest, 
had  risen  to  be  Archbishop  of  Granada.  At  the  very  outset  of 
their  negotiation,  however,  unexpected  difficulties  arose.  So 
fully  imbued  was  Columbus  with  the  grandeur  of  his  enter¬ 
prise,  that  he  would  listen  to  none  but  princely  conditions. 
His  principal  stipulation  was,  that  he  should  be  invested  with 
the  titles  and  privileges  of  admiral  and  viceroy  over  the  coun¬ 
tries  he  should  discover,  with  one-tenth  of  all  gains,  either  by 
trade  or  conquest.  The  courtiers  who  treated  with  him  were 
indignant  at  such  a  demand.  Their  pride  was  shocked  to  see 
one,  whom  they  had  considered  as  a  needy  adventurer,  aspir¬ 
ing  to  the  rank  and  dignities  superior  to  their  own.  One  ob¬ 
served  with  a  sneer  that  it  was  a  shrewd  arrangement  which 
he  proposed,  whereby  he  was  secure,  at  all  events,  of  the  honor 
of  a  command,  and  had  nothing  to  lose  in  case  of  failure.  To 
this  Columbus  promptly  replied,  by  offering  to  furnish  one- 
eighth  of  the  cost,  on  condition  of  enjoying  an  eighth  of  the 
profits.  To  do  this  he  no  doubt  calculated  on  the  proffered 
assistance  of  Martin  Alonzo  Pinzon,  the  wealthy  navigator  of 
Palos. 

His  terms,  however,  were  pronounced  inadmissible.  Fer¬ 
nando  de  Talavera  had  always  considered  Columbus  a  dream¬ 
ing  speculator,  or  a  needy  applicant  for  bread  ;  but  to  see  this 
man,  who  had  for  years  been  an  indigent  and  threadbare  solici¬ 
tor  in  his  antechamber,  assuming  so  lofty  a  tone,  and  claiming 
an  office  that  approached  to  the  awful  dignity  of  the  throne, 


*  Clemencin,  Elogio  de  la  Reina  Catolica,  p. 


78 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


excited  the  astonishment  as  well  as  the  indignation  of  the  pro¬ 
late.  He  represented  to  Isabella  that  it  would  be  degrading  to 
the  dignity  of  so  illustrious  a  crown  to  lavish  such  distinguished 
honors  upon  a  nameless  stranger.  Such  terms,  he  observed, 
even  in  case  of  success,  would  be  exorbitant;  but  in  case  of 
failure,  would  be  cited  with  ridicule,  as  evidence  of  the  gross 
credulity  of  the  Spanish  monarchs. 

Isabella  was  always  attentive  to  the  opinions  of  her  ghostly 
advisers,  and  the  archbishop  being  her  confessor,  had  peculiar 
influence.  His  suggestions  checked  her  dawning  favor.  She 
thought  the  proposed  advantages  might  be  purchased  at  too 
great  a  price.  More  moderate  conditions  were  offered  to 
Columbus,  and  such  as  appeared  highly  honorable  and  advan¬ 
tageous.  It  was  all  in  vain :  he  would  not  cede  one  point  of 
his  demands,  and  the  negotiation  was  broken  off. 

It  is  impossible  not  to  admire  the  great  constancy  of  purpose 
and  loftiness  of  spirit  displayed  by  Columbus,  ever  since  he 
had  conceived  the  sublime  idea  of  his  discovery.  More  than 
eighteen  years  had  elapsed  since  his  correspondence  with  Paulo 
Toscanelli  of  Florence,  wherein  he  had  announced  his  design. 
The  greatest  part  of  that  time  had  been  consumed  in  applica¬ 
tions  at  various  courts.  During  that  period,  what  poverty, 
neglect,  ridicule,  contumely,  and  disappointment  had  he  not 
suffered!  Nothing,  however,  could  shake  his  perseverance, 
nor  make  him  descend  to  terms  which  he  considered  beneath 
the  dignity  of  his  enterprise.  In  all  his  negotiations  he  forgot 
his  present  obscurity;  he  forgot  his  present  indigence;  his 
ardent  imagination  realized  the  magnitude  of  his  contemplated 
discoveries,  and  he  felt  himself  negotiating  about  empire. 

Though  so  large  a  portion  of  his  life  had  worn  away  in  fruit¬ 
less  solicitings ;  though  there  was  no  certainty  that  the  same 
weary  career  was  nut  to  be  entered  upon  at  any  other  court ; 
yet  so  indignant  was  he  at  the  repeated  disappointments  he 
had  experienced  in  Spain,  that  he  determined  to  abandon  it 
forever,  rather  than  compromise  his  demands.  Taking  leave 
of  his  friends,  therefore,  he  mounted  his  mule,  and  sallied  forth 
from  Santa  Fe  in  the  beginning  of  February,  1492,  on  his  way 
to  Cordova,  whence  he  intended  to  depart  immediately  for 
France. 

When  the  few  friends  who  were  zealous  believers  in  the 
theory  of  Columbus  saw  him  really  on  the  point  of  abandoning 
the  country,  they  were  filled  with  distress,  considering  his 
departure  an  irreparable  loss  to  the  nation.  Among  the  nurqr 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


79 


ber  was  Luis  de  St.  Angel,  receiver  of  the  ecclesiastical  reve-. 
nues  in  Arragon.  Determined  if  possible  to  avert  the  evil,  he 
obtained  an  immediate  audience  of  the  queen,  accompanied  by 
Alonzo  de  Quintanilla.  The  exigency  of  the  moment  gave  him 
courage  and  eloquence.  He  did  not  confine  himself  to  entrea¬ 
ties,  but  almost  mingled  reproaches,  expressing  astonishment 
that  a  queen  who  had  evinced  the  spirit  to  undertake  so  many 
great  and  perilous  enterprises,  should  hesitate  at  one  where  the 
loss  could  be  so  trifling,  while  the  gain  might  be  incalculable. 
He  reminded  her  how  much  might  be  done  for  the  glory  of 
God,  the  exaltation  of  the  church,  and  the  extension  of  her 
own  power  and  dominion.  What  cause  of  regret  to  herself,  of 
triumph  to  her  enemies,  of  sorrow  to  her  friends,  should  this 
enterprise,  thus  rejected  by  her,  be  accomplished  by  some 
other  power!  He  reminded  her  what  fame  and  dominion 
other  princes  had  acquired  by  their  discoveries ;  here  was  an 
opportunity  to  surpass  them  all. 

He  entreated  her  majesty  not  to  be  misled  by  the  assertions 
of  learned  men,  that  the  project  was  the  dream  of  a  visionary. 
He  vindicated  the  judgment  of  Columbus,  and  the  soundness 
and  practicability  of  his  plans.  Neither  would  even  his  failure 
reflect  disgrace  upon  the  crown.  It  was  worth  the  trouble  and 
expense  to  clear  up  even  a  doubt  upon  a  matter  of  such  im¬ 
portance,  for  it  belonged  to  enlightened  and  magnanimous 
princes  to  investigate  questions  of  the  kind,  and  to  explore  the 
wonders  and  secrets  of  the  universe.  He  stated  the  liberal 
offer  of  Columbus  to  bear  an  eighth  of  the  expense,  and  in¬ 
formed  her  that  all  the  requisites  for  this  great  enterprise  con¬ 
sisted  but  of  two  vessels  and  about  three  thousand  crowns. 

These  and  many  more  arguments  were  urged  with  that  per¬ 
suasive  power  which  honest  zeal  imparts,  and  it  is  said  the 
Marchioness  of  Moya,  who  was  present,  exerted  her  eloquence 
to  persuade  the  queen.  The  generous  spirit  of  Isabella  was 
enkindled.  It  seemed  as  if,  for  the  first  time,  the  subject  brokq 
upon  her  mind  in  its  real  grandeur,  and  she  declared  her  reso¬ 
lution  to  undertake  the  enterprise. 

There  was  still  a  moment’s  hesitation.  The  king  looked 
coldly  on  the  affair,  and  the  royal  finances  were  absolutely 
drained  by  the  war.  Some  time  must  be  given  to  replenish 
them.  How  could  she  draw  on  an  exhausted  treasury  for  a 
measure  to  which  the  king  was  adverse !  St.  Angel  watched 
this  suspense  with  trembling  anxiety.  The  next  moment 
reassured  him.  With  an  enthusiasm  worthy  of  herself  and  of 


80 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


the  cause,  Isabella  exclaimed,  “I  undertake  the  enterprise  for 
my  own  crown  of  Castile,  and  will  pledge  my  jewels  to  raise 
the  necessary  funds.”  This  was  the  proudest  moment  in  the 
life  of  Isabella ;  it  stamped  her  renown  forever  as  the  patroness 
of  the  discovery  of  the  New  World. 

St.  Angel,  eager  to  secure  this  noble  impulse,  assured  her 
majesty  that  there  would  be  no  need  of  pledging  her  jewels,  as 
he  was  ready  to  advance  the  necessary  funds.  His  offer  was 
gladly  accepted;  the  funds  really  came  from  the  coffers  of 
Arragon;  seventeen  thousand  florins  were  advanced  by  the 
accountant  of  St.  Angel  out  of  the  treasury  of  King  Ferdinand. 
That  prudent  monarch,  however,  took  care  to  have  his  king¬ 
dom  indemnified  some  few  years  afterward ;  for  in  remunera¬ 
tion  of  this  loan,  a  part  of  the  first  gold  brought  by  Columbus 
from  the  New  World,  was  employed  in  gilding  the  vaults  and 
ceilings  of  the  royal  saloon  in  the  grand  palace  of  Saragoza,  in 
Arragon,  anciently  the  Aljaferia,  or  abode  of  the  Moorish 
kings.* 

Columbus  had  pursued  his  lonely  journey  across  the  Vega 
and  reached  the  bridge  of  Pinos,  about  two  leagues  from  Gra¬ 
nada,  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain  of  Elvira,  a  pass  famous  in 
the  Moorish  wars  for  many  a  desperate  encounter  between  the 
Christians  and  infidels.  Here  he  was  overtaken  by  a  courier 
from  the  queen,  spurring  in  all  speed,  who  summoned  him  to 
‘eturn  to  Santa  Fe.  He  hesitated  for  a  moment,  being  loath 
i  o  subject  himself  again  to  the  delays  and  equivocations  of  the 
(  ourt ;  when  informed,  however,  of  the  sudden  zeal  for  the 
<  nterprise  excited  in  the  mind  of  the  queen,  and  the  positive 
]  romise  she  had  given  to  undertake  it,  he  no  longer  felt  a  doubt, 
but,  turning  the  reins  of  his  mule,  hastened  back  with  joyful 
alacrity  to  Santa  Fe,  confiding  in  the  noble  probity  of  that 
princess. 


*  Argensola  Anales  de  Arragon,  lib.  i.  cap.  10. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


81 


CHAPTER  Vn. 

ARRANGEMENT  WITH  THE  SPANISH  SOVEREIGNS — PREPARATIONS 
FOR  THE  EXPEDITION  AT  THE  PORT  OF  PALOS. 

[1492.] 

On  arriving  at  Santa  Fe,  Columbus  had  an  immediate  audi¬ 
ence  of  the  queen,  and  the  benignity  with  which  she  received 
him  atoned  for  all  past  neglect.  Through  deference  to  the  zeal 
she  thus  suddenly  displayed,  the  king  yielded  his  tardy  con- 
currence,  but  Isabella  was  the  soul  of  this  grand  enterprise. 
She  was  prompted  by  lofty  and  generous  enthusiasm,  while  the 
king  proved  cold  and  calculating  in  this  as  in  all  his  other 
undertakings. 

A  perfect  understanding  being  thus  effected  with  the  sover¬ 
eigns,  articles  of  agreement  were  ordered  to  be  drawn  out  by 
Juan  de  Coloma,  the  royal  secretary.  They  were  to  the  follow¬ 
ing  effect : 

1.  That  Columbus  should  have,  for  himself  during  his  life, 
and  his  heirs  and  successors  forever,  the  office  of  admiral  in  all 
the  lands  and  continents  which  he  might  discover  or  acquire  in 
the  ocean,  with  similar  honors  and  prerogatives  to  those 
enjoyed  by  the  high  admiral  of  Castile  in  his  district. 

2.  That  he  should  be  viceroy  and  governor-general  over  all 
the  said  lands  and  continents,  with  the  privilege  of  nominating 
three  candidates  for  the  government  of  each  island  or  province, 
one  of  whom  should  be  selected  by  the  sovereigns. 

3.  That  he  should  be  entitled  to  reserve  for  himself  one  tenth 
of  all  pearls,  precious  stones,  gold,  silver,  spices,  and  all  other 
articles  and  merchandises,  in  whatever  manner  found,  bought, 
bartered,  or  gained  within  his  admiralty,  the  costs  being  first 
deducted. 

4.  That  he,  or  his  lieutenant,  should  be  the  sole  judge  in  all 
causes  and  disputes  arising  out  of  traffic  between  those  coun¬ 
tries  and  Spain,  provided  the  high  admiral  of  Castile  had  simi¬ 
lar  jurisdiction  in  his  district. 

5.  That  he  might  then,  and  at  all  after  times,  contribute  an 


$2 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


eighth  part  of  the  expense  in  fitting  out  vessels  to  sail  on  this 
enterprise,  and  receive  an  eighth  part  of  the  profits. 

The  last  stipulation,  which  admits  Columbus  to  hear  an 
eighth  of  the  enterprise,  was  made  in  consequence  of  his  indig¬ 
nant  proffer,  on  being  reproached  with  demanding  ample 
emoluments  while  incurring  no  portion  of  the  charge.  He 
fulfilled  this  engagement,  through  the  assistance  of  the  Pinzons 
of  Palos,  and  added  a  third  vessel  to  the  armament.  Thus  one 
eighth  of  the  expense  attendant  on  this  grand  expedition, 
undertaken  by  a  powerful  nation,  was  actually  borne  by  the 
individual  who  conceived  it,  and  who  likewise  risked  his  own 
life  on  its  success. 

'  The  capitulations  were  signed  by  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  at 
the  city  of  Santa  Fe,  in  the  Vega  or  plain  of  Granada,  on  the 
17th  of  April,  1492.  A  letter  of  privilege,  or  commission  to 
Columbus,  of  similar  purport,  was  drawn  out  in  form,  and 
issued  by  the  sovereigns  in  the  city  of  Granada,  on  the  thirtieth 
of  the  same  month.  In  this,  the  dignities  and  prerogatives  of 
viceroy  and  governor  were  made  hereditary  in  his  family ;  and 
he  and  his  heirs  were  authorized  to  prefix  the  title  of  Don  to 
their  names;  a  distinction  accorded  in  those  days  only  to 
persons  of  rank  and  estate,  though  it  has  since  lost  all  value, 
from  being  universally  used  in  Spain. 

All  the  royal  documents  issued  on  this  occasion  bore  equally 
the  signatures  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  but  her  separate 
crown  of  Castile  defrayed  all  the  expense;  and,  during  her  life, 
few  persons,  except  Castilians,  were  permitted  to  establish 
themselves  in  the  new  territories.* 

The  port  of  Palos  de  Moguer  was  fixed  upon  as  the  place 
where  the  armament  was  to  be  fitted  out,  Columbus  calculating, 
no  doubt,  on  the  co-operation  of  Martin  Alonzo  Pinzon,  resident 
there,  and  on  the  assistance  of  his  zealous  friend  the  prior  oi 
the  convent  of  La  Rabida.  Before  going  into  the  business 
details  of  this  great  enterprise,  it  is  due  to  the  character  of  the 
illustrious  man  who  conceived  and  conducted  it,  most  especially 
to  notice  the  elevated,  even  though  visionary,  spi^t  by  which 
he  was  actuated.  One  of  his  principal  objects  was  undoubtedly 
the  propagation  of  the  Christian  faith.  He  expected  to  arrive 
at  the  extremity  of  Asia,  and  to  open  a  direct  and  easy  com¬ 
munication  with  the  vast  and  magnificent  empire  of  the  Grand 


*  Charlevoix,  Hist.  S.  Domingo,  lib.  i.  p.  79. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  C0LUMBTT3 . 


83 


Khan.  The  conversion  of  that  heathen  potentate  had,  in 
former  times,  been  a  favorite  aim  of  various  pontiffs  and  pious 
sovereigns,  and  various  missions  had  been  sent  to  the  remote 
regions  of  the  East  for  that  purpose.  Columbus  now  consid¬ 
ered  himself  about  to  effect  this  great  work :  to  spread  the  light 
of  revelation  to  the  very  ends  of  the  earth,  and  thus  to  be  the 
instrument  of  accomplishing  one  of  the  sublime  predictions  of 
Holy  Writ.  Ferdinand  listened  with  complacency  to  these 
enthusiastic  anticipations.  With  him,  however,  religion  was 
subservient  to  interest ;  and  he  had  found,  in  the  recent  con¬ 
quest  of  Granada,  that  extending  the  sway  of  the  church  might 
be  made  a  laudable  means  of  extending  his  own  dominions. 
According  to  the  doctrines  of  the  day,  every  nation  that  refused 
to  acknowledge  the  truths  of  Christianity,  was  fair  spoil  for  a 
Christian  invader ;  and  it  is  probable  that  Ferdinand  was  more 
stimulated  by  the  accounts  given  of  the  wealth  of  Mangi, 
Cathay,  and  other  provinces  belonging  to  the  Grand  Khan, 
than  by  any  anxiety  for  the  conversion  of  him  and  his  semi- 
barbarous  subjects. 

Isabella  had  nobler  inducements :  she  was  filled  with  a  pious 
zeal  at  the  idea  of  effecting  such  a  great  work  of  salvation. 
From  different  motives,  therefore,  both  of  the  sovereigns 
accorded  with  the  views  of  Columbus  in  this  particular,  and 
when  he  afterward  departed  on  his  voyage,  letters  were 
actually  given  him  for  the  Grand  Khan  of  Tartary. 

The  ardent  enthusiasm  of  Columbus  did  not  stop  here.  An¬ 
ticipating  boundless  wealth  from  his  discoveries,  he  suggested 
that  the  treasures  thus  acquired  should  be  consecrated  to  the 
pious  purpose  of  rescuing  the  holy  sepulchre  of  Jerusalem  from 
the  power  of  the  infidels.  The  sovereigns  smiled  at  this  sally 
of  the  imagination,  but  expressed  themselves  well  pleased  with 
it,  and  assured  him  that  even  without  the  funds  he  anticipated, 
they  should  be  well  disposed  to  that  holy  undertaking.*  What 
the  king  and  queen,  however,  may  have  considered  a  mere 
sally  of  momentary  excitement,  was  a  deep  and  cherished 
design  of  Columbus.  It  is  a  curious  and  characteristic  fact, 
which  has  never  been  particularly  noticed,  that  the  recovery 
of  the  holy  sepulchre  was  one  of  the  great  objects  of  his  am- 
bition,  meditated  throughout  the  remainder  of  his  life,  and 


*  Protests  a  vuestras  Altezas  que  toda  la  ganancia  desta  mi  empresa  se  gastase 
en  la  conquista  de  Jerusalem,  y  vuestras  Altezas  se  rieron,  y  dijeron  que  les  placia, 

y  que  sin  este  tenian  aqueila  gana.  Primer  Viage  de  Colon,  Navarrete,  tom.  i 
V*  U7, 


84 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


solemnly  provided  for  in  his  will.  In  fact,  he  subsequently 
considered  it  the  main  work  for  which  he  was  chosen  by 
heaven  as  an  agent,  and  that  his  great  discovery  was  but  a 
preparatory  dispensation  of  Providence  to  furnish  means  for 
its  accomplishment. 

A  home-felt  mark  of  favor,  characteristic  of  the  kind  and  con¬ 
siderate  heart  of  Isabella,  was  accorded  to  Columbus  before  his 
departure  from  the  court.  An  albala,  or  letter-patent,  was  is- 
sued  by  the  queen  on  the  8th  of  May,  appointing  his  son  Diego 
page  to  Prince  Juan,  the  heir  apparent,  with  an  allowance  for 
his  support ;  an  honor  granted  only  to  the  sons  of  persons  of 
distinguished  rank.* 

Thus  gratified  in  his  dearest  wishes,  after  a  course  of  delays 
and  disappointments  sufficient  to  have  reduced  any  ordinary 
man  to  despair,  Columbus  took  leave  of  the  court  on  the  12th  of 
May,  and  set  out  joyfully  for  Palos.  Let  those  who  are  disposed 
to  faint  under  difficulties,  in  the  prosecution  of  any  great  and 
worthy  undertaking,  remember  that  eighteen  years  elapsed  af¬ 
ter  the  time  that  Columbus  conceived  his  enterprise,  before  he 
was  enabled  to  carry  it  into  effect ;  that  the  greater  part  of  that 
time  was  passed  in  almost  hopeless  solicitation,  amid  poverty, 
neglect,  and  taunting  ridicule ;  that  the  prime  of  his  life  had 
wasted  away  in  the  struggle,  and  that  when  his  perseverance 
was  finally  crowned  with  success,  he  was  about  his  fifty-sixth 
year.  His  example  should  encourage  the  enterprising  never  to 
despair. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

COLUMBUS  AT  THE  PORT  OF  PALOS — PREPARATIONS  FOR  THE 

VOYAGE  OF  DISCOVERY. 

On  arriving  at  Palos,  Columbus  repaired  immediately  to  the 
neighboring  convent  of  La  Rabida,  where  he  was  received  with 
open  arms  by  the  worthy  prior,  Fray  Juan  Perez,  and  again  be¬ 
came  his  guest. f  The  port  of  Palos,  for  some  misdemeanor,  bad 
been  condemned  by  the  royal  council  to  serve  the  crown  for  one 
year  with  two  armed  caravels ;  and  these  were  destined  to  form 
part  of  the  armament  of  Columbus,  who  was  furnished  with  the 


•Navarrete,  Colec.  de  Viages,  tom.  ii.  doc.  11. 

t  Oviedo.  Cronica  de  las  Indias,  lib.  ii.  cap.  5. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS.  85 

necessary  papers  and  vouchers  to  enforce  obedience  in  all  mat* 
ters  necessary  for  his  expedition. 

On  the  following  morning,  the  23d  of  May,  Columbus,  accom¬ 
panied  by  Fray  Juan  Perez,  whose  character  and  station  gave 
him  great  importance  in  the  neighborhood,  proceeded  to  the 
church  of  St.  George  in  Palos,  where  the  alcalde,  the  regidors, 
and  many  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  place  had  been  notified  to 
attend.  Here,  in  presence  of  them  all,  in  the  porch  of  the  church, 
a  royal  order  was  read  by  a  notary  public,  commanding  the  au¬ 
thorities  of  Palos  to  have  two  caravels  ready  for  sea  within  ten 
days  after  this  notice,  and  to  place  them  and  their  crews  at  the 
disposal  of  Columbus.  The  latter  was  likewise  empowered  to 
procure  and  fit  out  a  third  vessel.  The  crews  of  all  three  were 
to  receive  the  ordinary  wages  of  seamen  employed  in  armed  ves¬ 
sels,  and  to  be  paid  four  months  in  advance.  They  were  to  sail 
in  such  direction  as  Columbus,  under  the  royal  authority,  should 
command,  and  were  to  obey  him  in  all  things,  with  merely  one 
stipulation,  that  neither  he  nor  they  were  to  go  to  St.  George  la 
Mina,  on  the  coast  of  Guinea,  nor  any  other  of  the  lately  discov¬ 
ered  possessions  of  Portugal.  A  certificate  of  their  good  con¬ 
duct,  signed  by  Columbus,  was  to  be  the  discharge  of  their  ob¬ 
ligation  to  the  crown.* 

Orders  were  likewise  read,  addressed  to  the  public  authorities, 
and  the  people  of  all  ranks  and  conditions,  in  the  maritime  bor¬ 
ders  of  Andalusia,  commanding  them  to  furnish  supplies  and  as¬ 
sistance  of  all  kinds,  at  reasonable  prices,  for  the  fitting  out  of 
the  vessels ;  and  penalties  were  denounced  on  such  as  should 
cause  any  impediment.  No  duties  were  to  be  exacted  for  any 
articles  furnished  to  the  vessels;  and  all  criminal  processes 
against  the  person  or  property  of  any  individual  engaged  in  the 
expedition  was  to  be  suspended  during  his  absence,  and  for  two 
months  after  his  return,  f 

With  these  orders  the  authorities  promised  implicit  compli 
ance ;  but  when  the  nature  of  the  intended  expedition  came  to 
be  known,  astonishment  and  dismay  fell  upon  the  little  com¬ 
munity.  The  ships  and  crews  demanded  for  such  a  desperate 
service  were  regarded  in  the  light  of  sacrifices.  The  owners  of 
vessels  refused  to  furnish  them ;  the  boldest  seamen  shrank  from 
such  a  wild  and  chimerical  cruise  into  the  wilderness  of  the 
ocean.  All  kinds  of  frightful  tales  and  fables  were  conjured  up 
concerning  the  unknown  regions  of  the  deep ;  and  nothing  can 

*  Navarrete,  Colec.  de  Viages,  tom.  ii.  doc.  0, 

t  Ibid.,  doc.  8,  9, 


86 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS 


be  a  stronger  evidence  of  the  boldness  of  this  undertaking  thaii 
the  extreme  dread  of  it  in  a  community  composed  of  some  of  the 
most  adventurous  navigators  of  the  age. 

Weeks  elapsed  without  a  vessel  being  procured,  or  anything 
else  being  done  in  fulfilment  of  the  royal  orders.  Further  man¬ 
dates  were  therefore  issued  by  the  sovereigns,  ordering  the  ma¬ 
gistrates  of  the  coast  of  Andalusia  to  press  into  the  service  an> 
vessels  they  might  think  proper,  belonging  to  Spanish  subjects, 
and  to  oblige  the  masters  and  crews  to  sail  with  Columbus  in 
whatever  direction  he  should  be  sent  by  royal  command.  Juan 
de  Penalosa,  an  officer  of  the  royal  household,  was  sent  to  see 
that  this  order  was  properly  complied  with,  receiving  two  hun 
dred  maravedis  a  day  as  long  as  he  was  occupied  in  the  businesr 
which  sum,  together  with  other  penalties  expressed  in  the  man¬ 
date,  was  to  be  exacted  from  such  as  should  be  disobedient  and 
delinquent.  This  letter  was  acted  upon  by  Columbus  in  Palos 
and  the  neighboring  town  of  Moguer,  but  apparently  with  as 
little  success  as  the  preceding.  The  communities  of  those  places 
were  thrown  into  complete  confusion ;  tumults  took  place ;  but 
nothing  of  consequence  was  effected.  At  length  Martin  Alonzo 
Pinzon  stepped  forward,  with  his  brother  Yicente  Yanez  Pinzon, 
both  navigators  of  great  courage  and  ability,  owners  of  vessels, 
and  having  seamen  in  their  employ.  They  were  related,  also,  to 
many  of  the  seafaring  inhabitants  of  Palos  and  Moguer,  and  had 
great  influence  throughout  the  neighborhood.  They  engaged  to 
sail  on  the  expedition,  and  furnished  one  of  the  vessels  required. 
Others,  with  their  owners  and  crews,  were  pressed  into  the 
service  by  the  magistrates  under  the  arbitrary  mandate  of  the 
sovereigns ;  and  it  is  a  striking  instance  of  the  despotic  author¬ 
ity  exercised  over  commerce  in  those  times,  that  respectable  in¬ 
dividuals  should  thus  be  compelled  to  engage,  with  persons  and 
ships,  in  what  appeared  to  them  a  mad  and  desperate  enterprise, 
During  the  equipment  of  the  vessels,  troubles  and  difficulties 
arose  among  the  seamen  who  had  been  compelled  to  embark. 
These  were  fomented  and  kept  up  by  Gomez  Rascon  and  Chris- 
toval  Quintero,  owners  of  the  Pinta,  one  of  the  ships  pressed 
into  the  service.  All  kinds  of  obstacles  were  thrown  in  the  way, 
by  these  people  and  their  friends,  to  retard  or  defeat  the  voyage. 
The  calkers  employed  upon  the  vessels  did  their  work  in  a  care¬ 
less  and  imperfect  manner,  and  on  being  commanded  to  do  it 
over  again  absconded.*  Some  of  the  seamen  who  had  enlisted 


*  I<as  Casas,  Hist.  lad.  lib.  i.  cap.  77,  Mi. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS 


87 


willingly  repented  of  their  hardihood,  or  were  dissuaded  by  their 
relatives,  and  sought  to  retract ;  others  deserted  and  concealed 
themselves.  Everything  had  to  he  effected  by  the  most  harsh 
and  arbitrary  measures,  and  in  defiance  of  popular  prejudice 
and  opposition. 

The  influence  and  example  of  the  Pinzons  had  a  great  effect 
in  allaying  this  opposition,  and  inducing  many  of  their  friends 
and  relatives  to  embark.  It  is  supposed  that  they  had  furnished 
Columbus  with  funds  to  pay  the  eighth  part  of  the  expense 
which  he  was  bound  to  advance.  It  is  also  said  that  Martin 
Alonzo  Pinzon  was  to  divide  with  him  his  share  of  the  profits. 
As  no  immediate  profit,  however,  resulted  from  this  expedition, 
no  claim  of  the  land  was  ever  brought  forward.  It  is  certain, 
however,  that  the  assistance  of  the  Pinzons  was  all-important, 
if  not  indispensable,  in  fitting  out  and  launching  the  expedi¬ 
tion.* 

After  the  great  difficulties  made  by  various  courts  in  patro¬ 
nizing  this  enterprise,  it  is  surprising  how  inconsiderable  an  ar¬ 
mament  was  required.  It  is  evident  that  Columbus  had  reduced 
his  requisitions  to  the  narrowest  limits,  lest  any  great  expense 
should  cause  impediment.  Three  small  vessels  were  apparently 
all  that  he  had  requested.  Two  of  them  were  light  barks,  called 
caravels,  not  superior  to  river  and  coasting  craft  of  more  mod¬ 
ern  days.  Representations  of  this  class  of  vessels  exist  in  old 
prints  and  paintings.!  They  are  delineated  as  open,  and  with¬ 
out  deck  in  the  centre,  but  built  up  high  at  the  prow  and  stern, 
with  forecastles  and  cabins  for  the  accommodation  of  the  crew. 
Peter  Martyr,  the  learned  contemporary  of  Columbus,  says  that 
only  one  of  the  three  vessels  was  decked.  The  smallness  of  the 
vessels  was  considered  an  advantage  by  Columbus,  in  a  voyage 
of  discovery,  enabling  him  to  run  close  to  the  shores,  and  to  en¬ 
ter  shallow  rivers  and  harbors.  In  his  third  voyage,  when 
coasting  the  Gulf  of  Paria,  he  complained  of  the  size  of  his  ship, 
being  nearly  a  hundred  tons  burden.  But  that  such  long  and 
perilous  expeditions,  into  unknown  seas,  should  be  undertaken 
in  vessels  without  decks,  and  that  they  should  live  through  the 
violent  tempests,  by  which  they  were  frequently  assailed,  re¬ 
main  among  the  singular  circumstances  of  these  daring  voyages. 

At  length,  by  the  beginning  of  August,  every  difficulty  was 


*  These  facts  concerning  the  Pinzons  ai-e  mostly  taken  from  the  testimony  given, 
many  years  afterward,  in  a  suit  between  Don  Diego,  the  son  of  Columbus,  and  the 
crown. 

•V  See  illustrations,  article  “  Ships  of  Columbus.” 


88 


life  of  cupjsropnm  coltjmbtjs. 


vanquished,  and  the  vessels  were  ready  for  sea.  The  largest, 
which  had  been  prepared  expressly  for  the  voyage,  and  was 
decked,  was  called  the  Santa  Maria ;  on  board  of  this  ship  Co¬ 
lumbus  hoisted  his  flag.  The  second,  called  the  Pinta,  was  com¬ 
manded  by  Martin  Alonzo  Pinzon,  accompanied  by  his  brother 
Francisco  Martin,  as  pilot.  The  third,  called  the  Nina,  had 
latine  sails,  and  was  commanded  by  the  third  of  the  brothers, 
Vicente  Yanez  Pinzon.  There  were  three  other  pilots,  Sancho 
Ruiz,  Pedro  Alonzo  Nino,  and  Bartolomeo  Roldan.  Rodcrigo 
Sanchez  of  Segovia  was  inspector-general  of  the  armament,  and 
Diego  de  Arana,  a  native  of  Cordova,  chief  alguazil.  Roderigo 
de  Escobar  went  as  a  royal  notary,  an  officer  always  sent  in  the 
armaments  of  the  crown,  to  take  official  notes  of  all  transac¬ 
tions.  There  were  also  a  physician  and  a  surgeon,  together  with 
various  private  adventurers,  several  servants,  and  ninety  mark 
ners;  making  in  all  one  hundred  and  twenty  persons.* 

The  squadron  being  ready  to  put  to  sea,  Columbus,  impressed 
with  the  solemnity  of  his  undertaking,  confessed  himself  to  the 
Friar  Juan  Perez,  and  partook  of  the  sacrament  of  the  com¬ 
munion.  His  example  was  followed  by  his  officers  and  crew, 
and  they  entered  upon  their  enterprise  full  of  awe,  and  with  the 
most  devout  and  affecting  ceremonials,  committing  themselves 
to  the  especial  guidance  and  protection  of  Pleaven.  A  deep 
gloom  was  spread  over  the  whole  community  of  Palos  at  their 
departure,  for  almost  every  one  had  some  relative  or  friend  on 
board  of  the  squadron.  The  spirits  of  the  seamen,  already  de¬ 
pressed  by  their  own  fears,  were  still  more  cast  down  at  the 
affliction  of  those  they  left  behind,  who  took  leave  of  them 
with  tears  and  lamentations  and  dismal  forebodings,  as  of  men 
they  were  never  to  behold  again. 


*  Charlevoix,  Hist.  St.  Domingo,  lib.  i.  MuSoz,  Hist.  Nuevo  Mujado.  lib.  fr 


BOOK  III. 


CHAPTER  I. 

DEPARTURE  OF  COLUMBUS  ON  HIS  FIRST  VOYAGE. 

[1492.] 

When  Columbus  set  sail  on  this  memorable  voyage,  he  com¬ 
menced  a  regular  journal,  intended  for  the  inspection  of  the 
Spanish  sovereigns.  Like  all  his  other  transactions,  it  evinces 
how  deeply  he  was  impressed  with  the  grandeur  and  solemnity 
of  his  enterprise.  He  proposed  to  keep  it,  as  he  afterward  ob¬ 
served,  in  the  manner  of  the  Commentaries  of  Caesar.  It 
is  opened  with  a  stately  prologue,  wherein,  in  the  following 
words,  were  set  forth  the  motives  and  views  which  led  to  his 
expedition. 

“In  nomine  D.  N.  Jesu  Christi.  Whereas  most  Christian, 
most  high,  most  excellent  and  most  powerful  princes,  king  and 
queen  of  the  Spains,  and  of  the  islands  of  the  sea,  our  sover¬ 
eigns,  in  the  present  year  of  1492,  after  your  highnesses  had 
put  an  end  to  the  war  with  the  Moors  who  ruled  in  Europe, 
and  had  concluded  that  warfare  in  the  great  city  of  Granada, 
where,  on  the  second  of  January,  of  this  present  year,  I  saw  the 
royal  banners  of  your  highnesses  placed  by  force  of  arms  on 
the  towers  of  the  Alhambra,  which  is  the  fortress  of  that  city, 
and  beheld  the  moorish  king  sally  forth  from  the  gates  of  the 
city,  and  kiss  the  royal  hand  of  your  highnesses  and  of  my  lord 
the  prince;  and  immediately  in  that  same  month,  in  conse¬ 
quence  of  the  information  which  I  had  given  to  your  high¬ 
nesses  of  the  lands  of  India,  and  of  a  prince  who  is  called  the 
Grand  Khan,  which  is  to  say  in  our  language,  king  of  kings ; 
how  that  many  times  he  and  his  predecessors  had  sent  to 
Rome  to  entreat  for  doctors  of  our  holy  faith,  to  instruct  him 


90 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


in  the  same ;  and  that  the  holy  father  had  never  provided  him 
with  them,  and  thus  so  many  people  were  lost,  believing  in 
idolatries,  and  imbibing  doctrines  of  perdition ;  therefore  your 
highnesses,  as  Catholic  Christians  and  princes,  lovers  and  pro¬ 
moters  of  the  holy  Christian  faith,  and  enemies  of  the  sect  of 
Mahomet,  and  of  all  idolatries  and  heresies,  determined  to  send 
me,  Christopher  Columbus,  to  the  said  parts  of  India,  to  see 
the  said  princes,  and  the  people  and  lands,  and  discover  the 
nature  and  disposition  of  them  all,  and  the  means  to  be  taken 
Zojl  the  conversion  of  them  to  our  holy  faith ;  and  ordered  that 
I  should  not  go  by  land  to  the  east,  by  which  it  is  the  custom 
to  go,  but  by  a  voyage  to  the  west,  by  which  course,  unto  the 
present  time,  we  do  not  know  for  certain  that  any  one  hath 
passed.  Your  hignesses,  therefore,  after  having  expelled  all 
the  Jews  from  your  kingdoms  and  territories,  commanded  me, 
in  the  same  month  of  January,  to  proceed  with  a  sufficient 
armamen  tto  the  said  parts  of  India ;  and  or  this  purpose  be¬ 
stowed  great  favors  upon  me,  ennobling  me,  that  thenceforward 
I  might  style  mj  self  Don,  appointing  me  high  admiral  of  the 
Ocean  sea,  and  perpetual  viceroy  and  governor  of  ah  the  islands 
and  continents  I  should  discover  and  gain,  and  winch  hence¬ 
forward  may  be  discovered  and  gained  in  the  Ocean  sea ;  ana 
that  my  eldest  son  should  succeed  me,  and  so  on  from  genera' 
tion  to  generation  forever.  I  departed,  therefore,  from  the 
city  of  Granada,  on  Saturday,  the  12th  of  May,  of  the  same 
year  1492,  to  Palos,  a  seaport,  where  I  armed  three  ships,  well 
calculated  for  such  service,  and  sailed  from  that  port  well  fur¬ 
nished  with  provisions  and  with  many  seamen,  on  Friday,  the 
third  of  August,  of  the  same  year,  half  an  hour  before  sunrise, 
and  took  the  route  for  the  Canary  Islands  of  your  highnesses,  to 
steer  my  course  thence,  and  navigate  until  I  should  arrive  at 
the  Indies,  and  deliver  the  embassy  of  your  highnesses  to  those 
princes,  and  accomplish  that  which  you  had  commanded.  For 
this  purpose  I  intend  to  write  during  this  voyage,  very  punc¬ 
tually  from  day  to  day,  all  that  I  may  do,  and  see,  and  expe¬ 
rience,  as  will  hereafter  be  seen.  Also,  my  sovereign  princes, 
besides  describing  each  night  all  that  has  occurred  in  the  day 
and  in  the  day  the  navigation  of  the  night,  I  propose  to  make 
a  chart  in  which  I  will  set  down  the  waters  and  lands  of  the 
Ocean  sea  in  their  proper  situations  under  their  bearings ;  and 
further,  to  compose  a  book,  and  illustrate  the  whole  in  picture 
by  latitude  from  the  equinoctial,  and  longitude  from  the  west ; 
and  upon  the  whole  it  will  be  essential  that  I  should  forgot 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS.  91 

sleep  and  attend  closely  to  the  navigation  to  accomplish  these 
things,  which  will  be  a  great  labor.”  * 

Thus  are  formally  and  expressly  stated  by  Columbus  the  ob¬ 
jects  of  this  extraordinary  voyage.  The  material  facts  still  ex¬ 
tant  of  his  journal  will  be  found  incorporated  in  the  present 
work.f 

It  was  on  Friday,  the  3d  of  August,  1492,  early  in  the  morn 
ing,  that  Columbus  set  sail  from  the  bar  of  Saltes,  a  small  island 
formed  by  the  arms  of  the  Odiel,  in  front  of  the  town  of  Huelva, 
steering  in  a  south-westerly  direction  for  the  Canary  Islands, 
whence  it  was  his  intention  to  strike  due  west.  As  a  guide  by 
which  to  sail,  he  had  prepared  a  map  or  chart,  improved  upon 
that  sent  him  by  Paulo  Toscanelli.  Neither  of  these  now  exists, 
hut  the  globe  or  planisphere  finished  by  Martin  Behen  in  this 
year  of  the  admiral’s  first  voyage  is  still  extant,  and  furnishes 
an  idea  of  what  the  chart  of  Columbus  must  have  been.  It  ex¬ 
hibits  the  coasts  of  Europe  and  Africa  from  the  south  of  Ireland 
to  the  end  of  Guinea,  and  opposite  to  them,  on  the  other  side 
of  the  Atlantic,  the  extremity  of  Asia,  or,  as  it  was  termed, 
India.  Between  them  is  placed  the  island  of  Cipango,  or  Japan, 
which,  according  to  Marco  Polo,  lay  fifteen  hundred  miles  dis¬ 
tant  from  the  Asiatic  coast.  In  his  computations  Columbus 
advanced  this  island  about  a  thousand  leagues  too  much  to 
the  east,  supposing  it  to  be  about  the  situation  of  Florida  and 
at  this  island  he  hoped  first  to  arrive. 

The  exultation  of  Columbus  at  finding  himself,  after  so  many 
years  of  baffled  hope,  fairly  launched  on  his  grand  enterprise, 
was  checked  by  his  want  of  confidence  in  the  resolution  and 
perseverance  of  his  crews.  As  long  as  he  remained  within 
reach  of  Europe,  there  was  no  security  that,  in  a  moment  of 
repentance  and  alarm,  they  might  not  renounce  the  prosecution 

*  Navarrete,  Colec.  Viag.,  tom.  i.  p.  1. 

t  An  abstract  of!  this  journal,  made  by  Las  Casas,  has  recently  been  discovered, 
and  is  published  in  the  first  volume  of  the  collection  of  Senor  Navarrete.  Many 
passages  of  this  abstract  had  been  previously  inserted  by  Las  Casas  in  his  History 
of  the  Indies,  and  the  same  journal  had  been  copiously  used  by  Fernando  Colum¬ 
bus  in  the  history  of  his  father.  In  the  present  account  of  this  voyage,  the  author 
has  made  use  of  the  journal  contained  in  the  work  of  Senor  Navarrete,  the  manu¬ 
script  history  of  Las  Casas,  the  History  of  the  Indies  by  Herrera,  the  Life  of  the 
Admiral  by  his  son,  the  Chronicle  of  the  Indies  by  Oviedo,  the  manuscript  history 
of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  by  Andres  Bernaldes,  curate  of  Los  Palacios,  and  the 
Letters  and  Decades  of  the  Ocean  Sea,  by  Peter  Martyr;  all  of  whom,  with  the  ex¬ 
ception  of  Herrera,  were  contemporaries  and  acquaintances  of  Columbus.  These 
are  the  principal  authorities  which  have  been  consulted,  though  scattered  lights 
have  occasionally  been  obtained  from  other  sources. 

X  Malte-Brun,  Geograph.  XJniverselle,  tom.  ii.  p.  283. 


1 


92 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS, 


of  the  voyage,  and  insist  on  a  return.  Symptoms  soon  appeared 
to  warrant  his  apprehensions.  On  the  third  day  the  Pinta 
made  signal  of  distress  ;  her  rudder  was  discovered  to  be  bro¬ 
ken  and  unhung.  This  Columbus  surmised  to  be  done  through 
the  contrivance  of  the  owners  of  the  caravel,  Gomez  Rascon 
and  Christoval  Quintero,  to  disable  their  vessel,  and  cause  her 
to  be  left  behind.  As  has  already  been  observed,  they  had 
been  pressed  into  the  service  greatly  against  their  will,  and 
their  caravel  seized  upon  for  the  expedition,  in  conformity  to 
the  royal  orders. 

Columbus  was  much  disturbed  at  this  occurrence.  It  gave 
him  a  foretaste  of  further  difficulties  to  be  apprehended  from 
crews  partly  enlisted  on  compulsion,  and  all  full  of  doubt  and 
foreboding.  Trivial  obstacles  might,  in  the  present  critical 
state  of  his  voyage,  spread  panic  and  mutiny  through  his  ships, 
and  entirely  defeat  the  expedition. 

The  wind  was  blowing  strongly  at  the  time,  so  that  he  could 
not  render  assistance  without  endangering  his  own  vessel. 
Fortunately,  Martin  Alonzo  Pinzon  commanded  the  Pinta,  and 
being  an  adroit  and  able  seaman,  succeeded  in  securing  the 
rudder  with  cords,  so  as  to  bring  the  vessel  into  management. 
This,  however,  was  but  a  temporary  and  inadequate  expedient, 
the  fastenings  gave  way  again  on  the  following  day,  and  the 
other  ships  were  obliged  to  shorten  sail  until  the  rudder  could 
be  secured. 

This  damaged  state  of  the  Pinta,  as  well  as  her  being  in  a 
leaky  condition,  determined  the  admiral  to  touch  at  the  Canary 
Islands,  and  seek  a  vessel  to  replace  her.  He  considered  him¬ 
self  not  far  from  those  islands,  though  a  different  opinion  wTas 
entertained  by  the  pilots  of  the  squadron.  The  event  proved 
his  superiority  in  taking  observations  and  keeping  reckonings, 
for  they  came  in  sight  of  the  Canaries  on  the  morning  of  the 
9th. 

They  were  detained  upward  of  three  weeks  among  these 
islands,  seeking  in  vain  another  vessel.  They  were  obliged, 
therefore,  to  make  a  new  rudder  for  the  Pinta,  and  repair 
her  for  the  voyage.  The  latine  sails  of  the  Nina  wrere  also  al¬ 
tered  into  square  sails,  that  she  might  work  more  stead¬ 
ily  and  securely,  and  be  able  to  keep  company  with  the  other 
vessels. 

While  sailing  among  these  islands,  the  crew  wrere  terrified 
at  beholding  the  lofty  peak  of  Teneriffe  sending  forth  volumes 
of  flame  and  smoke,  being  ready  to  take  alarm  at  any  extra¬ 
ordinary  phenomenon,  and  to  construe  it  into  a  disastrous 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


93 


portent.  Columbus  took  great  pains  to  dispel  their  apprehen¬ 
sions,  explaining  the  natural  causes  of  those  volcanic  fires,  and 
verifying  his  explanations  by  citing  Mount  Etna  and  other  well- 
known  volcanoes. 

While  taking  in  wood  and  water  and  provisions  in  the  island 
of  Gomera,  a  vessel  arrived  from  Ferro,  which  reported  that 
three  Portuguese  caravels  had  been  seen  hovering  off  that 
island,  with  the  intention,  it  was  said,  of  capturing  Columbus. 
The  admiral  suspected  some  hostile  stratagem  on  the  part  of 
the  King  of  Portugal,  in  revenge  for  his  having  embarked  in 
the  service  of  Spain ;  he  therefore  lost  no  time  in  putting  to  sea, 
anxious  to  get  far  from  those  islands,  and  out  of  the  track  of 
navigation,  trembling  lest  something  might  occur  to  defeat  his 
expedition,  commenced  under  such  inauspicious  circumstances. 


CHAPTER  H. 

CONTINUATION  OF  THE  VOYAGE — FIRST  NOTICE  OF  THE  VARIATION 

OF  THE  NEEDLE. 

[1492.] 

Early  in  the  morning  of  the  6th  of  September  Columbus  set 
sail  from  the  island  of  Gomera,  and  now  might  be  said  first  to 
strike  into  the  region  of  discovery ;  taking  leave  of  these  fron¬ 
tier  islands  of  the  Old  World,  and  steering  westward  for  the 
unknown  parts  of  the  Atlantic.  For  three  days,  however,  a 
profound  calm  kept  the  vessels  loitering  with  flagging  sails, 
within  a  short  distance  of  the  land.  This  was  a  tantalizing  de¬ 
lay  to  Columbus,  who  was  impatient  to  find  himself  far  out  of 
sight  of  either  land  or  sail ;  which,  in  the  pure  atmospheres  of 
these  latitudes,  may  be  descried  at  an  immense  distance.  On 
the  following  Sunday,  the  9th  of  September,  at  daybreak,  he 
beheld  Ferro,  the  last  of  the  Canary  Islands,  about  nine  leagues 
distant.  This  was  the  island  whence  the  Portuguese  caravels 
had  been  seen ;  he  was  therefore  in  the  very  neighborhood  of 
danger.  Fortunately,  a  breeze  sprang  up  with  the  sun,  their 
sails  were  once  more  filled,  and  in  the  course  of  the  day  the 
heights  of  Ferro  gradually  faded  from  the  horizon. 

On  losing  sight  of  this  last  trace  of  land,  the  hearts  of  the 


94 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


crews  failed  them.  They  seemed  literally  to  have  taken  leave 
of  the  world.  Behind  them  was  everything  dear  to  the  heart 
of  man ;  country,  family,  friends,  life  itself ;  before  the  mevery- 
thing  was  chaos,  mystery,  and  peril.  In  the  perturbation  ol 
the  moment,  they  despaired  of  ever  more  seeing  their  homes. 
Many  of  the  rugged  seamen  shed  tears,  and  some  broke  into 
loud  lamentations.  The  admiral  tried  in  every  way  to  soothe 
their  distress,  and  to  inspire  them  with  his  own  glorious  antici¬ 
pations.  He  described  to  them  the  magnificent  countries  to 
which  he  was  about  to  conduct  them :  the  islands  of  the  Indian 
seas  teeming  with  gold  and  precious  stones;  the  regions  of 
Mangi  and  Cathay,  with  their  cities  of  unrivalled  wealth  and 
splendor.  He  promised  them  land  and  riches,  and  everything 
that  could  arouse  their  cupidity  or  inflame  their  imaginations, 
nor  were  these  promises  made  for  purposes  of  mere  deception ; 
he  certainly  believed  that  he  should  realize  them  all. 

He  now  issued  orders  to  the  commanders  of  the  other  ves¬ 
sels,  that,  in  the  event  of  separation  by  any  accident,  they 
should  continue  directly  westward ;  but  that  after  sailing  seven 
hundred  leagues,  they  should  lay  by  from  midnight  until  day¬ 
light,  as  at  about  that  distance  he  confidently  expected  to  find 
land.  In  the  mean  time,  as  he  thought  it  possible  he  might  not 
discover  land  within  the  distance  thus  assigned,  and  as  he  fore¬ 
saw  that  the  vague  terrors  already  awakened  among  the  seamen 
would  increase  with  the  space  which  intervened  between  them 
and  their  homes,  he  commenced  a  stratagem  which  he  con¬ 
tinued  throughout  the  voyage.  He  kept  two  reckonings ;  one 
correct,  in  which  the  true  way  of  the  ship  was  noted,  and 
which  was  retained  in  secret  for  his  own  government ;  in  the 
other,  which  was  open  to  general  inspection,  a  number  of 
leagues  was  daily  subtracted  from  the  sailing  of  the  ship,  so 
that  the  crews  were  kept  in  ignorance  of  the  real  distance 
they  had  advanced.* 

On  the  11th  of  September,  when  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
leagues  west  of  Ferro,  they  fell  in  with  part  of  a  mast,  which 
from  its  size  appeared  to  have  belonged  to  a  vessel  of  about  a 
hundred  and  twenty  tons  burden,  and  which  had  evidently 


*  It  has  been  erroneously  stated  that  Columbus  kept  two  journals.  It  was  merely 
in  the  reckoning,  or  log-book,  that  he  deceived  the  crew.  His  journal  was  entirely 
private,  and  intended  for  his  own  use  and  the  perusal  of  the  sovereigns.  In  a  letter 
written  from  Granada,  in  1503,  to  Pope  Alexander  VII.,  he  says  that  he  had  kept 
an  account  of  his  voyages,  in  the  style  of  the  Commentaries  of  Csosar,  which  h# 
intended  to  submit  to  his  holiness. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS . 


95 


been  a  long  time  in  the  water.  The  crews,  tremblingly  alive  to 
everything  that  could  excite  their  hopes  or  fears,  looked  with 
rueful  eye  upon  this  wreck  of  some  unfortunate  voyager,  drift¬ 
ing  ominously  at  the  entrance  of  those  unknown  seas. 

On  the  13th  of  September,  in  the  evening,  being  about  two 
hundred  leagues  from  the  island  of  Ferro,  Columbus  for  the 
first  time  noticed  the  variation  of  the  needle,  a  phenomenon 
which  had  never  before  been  remarked.  He  perceived  about 
nightfall  that  the  needle,  instead  of  pointing  to  the  north  star, 
varied  about  half  a  point,  or  between  five  and  six  degrees,  to 
the  north-west,  and  still  more  on  the  following  morning.  Struck 
with  this  circumstance,  he  observed  it  attentively  for  three 
days,  and  found  that  the  variation  increased  as  he  advanced. 
He  at  first  made  no  mention  of  this  phenomenon,  knowing  how 
ready  his  people  were  to  take  alarm,  but  it  soon  attracted  the 
attention  of  the  pilots,  and  filled  them  with  consternation.  It 
seemed  as  if  the  very  laws  of  nature  were  changing,  as  they 
advanced,  and  that  they  were  entering  another  world,  subject 
to  unknown  influences.*  They  apprehended  that  the  compass 
was  about  to  lose  its  mysterious  virtues,  and,  without  this 
guide,  what  was  to  become  of  them  in  a  vast  and  trackless 
ocean? 

Columbus  tasked  his  science  and  ingenuity  for  reasons  with 
which  to  allay  their  terror.  He  observed  that  the  direction  of 
the  needle  was  not  to  the  polar  star,  but  to  some  fixed  and 
invisible  point.  The  variation,  therefore,  was  not  caused  by 
any  fallacy  in  the  compass,  but  by  the  movement  of  the  north 
star  itself,  which,  like  the  other  heavenly  bodies,  had  its 
changes  and  revolutions,  and  every  day  described  a  circle 
round  the  pole.  The  high  opinion  which  the  pilots  entertained 
of  Columbus  as  a  profound  astronomer,  gave  weight  to  this 
theory,  and  their  alarm  subsided.  As  yet  the  solar  system  of 
Copernicus  was  unknown;  the  explanation  of  Columbus, 
therefore,  was  highly  plausible  and  ingenious,  and  it  shows  the 
vivacity  of  his  mind,  ever  ready  to  meet  the  emergency  of  the 
moment.  The  theory  may  at  first  have  been  advanced  merely 
to  satisfy  the  minds  of  others,  but  Columbus  appears  subse¬ 
quently  to  have  remained  satisfied  with  it  himself.  The  phe¬ 
nomenon  has  now  become  familiar  to  us,  but  we  still  continue 
ignorant  of  its  cause.  It  is  one  of  those  mysteries  of  nature, 
open  to  daily  observation  and  experiment,  and  apparently  sim- 


*  Las  Casas,  Hist,  Ind,,  lib.  i.  cap.  0, 


96 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


i 


pie  from  their  familiarity,  but  which  on  investigation  make  the 
human  mind  conscious  of  its  limits ;  baffling  the  experience  oi 
the  practical,  and  humbling  the  pride  of  science. 


CHAPTER  III. 

CONTINUATION  OF  THE  VOYAGE— VARIOUS  TERRORS  OF  THB 

SEAMEN. 

[1492.] 

On  the  14th  of  September  the  voyagers  were  rejoiced  by  the 
sight  of  what  they  considered  harbingers  of  land.  A  heron,  and 
a  tropical  bird  called  the  Rabo  de  Junco,*  neither  of  which  is 
supposed  to  venture  far  to  sea,  hovered  about  the  ships.  On 
the  following  night  they  were  struck  with  awe  at  beholding  a 
meteor,  or,  as  Columbus  calls  it  in  his  journal,  a  great  dame  of 
fire,  which  seemed  to  fall  from  the  sky  into  the  sea,  about  four 
or  five  leagues  distant.  These  meteors,  common  in  warm  cli¬ 
mates,  and  especially  under  the  tropics,  are  always  seen  in  the 
serene  azure  sky  of  those  latitudes,  fading  as  it  were  from  the 
heavens,  but  never  beneath  a  cloud.  In  the  transparent  atmos¬ 
phere  of  one  of  those  beautiful  nights,  where  every  star  shines 
with  the  purest  lustre,  they  often  leave  a  luminous  train  be¬ 
hind  them  which  lasts  for  twelve  or  fifteen  seconds,  and  may 
well  be  compared  to  a  flame. 

The  wind  had  hitherto  been  favorable,  with  occasional  though 
transient  clouds  and  showers.  They  had  made  great  progress 
each  day,  though  Columbus,  according  to  his  secret  plan,  con¬ 
trived  to  suppress  several  leagues  in  the  daily  reckoning  left 
open  to  the  crew. 

They  had  now  arrived  within  the  influence  of  the  trade  wind, 
which,  following  the  sun,  blows  steadily  from  east  to  west  be¬ 
tween  the  tropics,  and  sweeps  over  a  few  adjoining  degrees  of 
ocean.  With  this  propitious  breeze  directly  aft,  they  were 
wafted  gently  but  speedily  over  a  tranquil  sea,  so  that  for  many 
days  they  did  not  shift  a  sail.  Columbus  perpetually  recurs  to 
the  bland  and  temperate  serenity  of  the  weather,  which  in  this 
tract  of  the  ocean  is  soft  and  refreshing  without  being  cool.  In 


*  The  water-wagtail. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


97 


his  artless  and  expressive  language  he  compares  the  pure  and 
balmy  mornings  to  those  of  April  in  Andalusia,  and  observes 
that  they  wanted  but  the  song  of  the  nightingale  to  complete 
the  illusion.  “  He  had  reason  to  say  so,”  observes  the  venera¬ 
ble  Las  Casas;  “for  it  is  marvellous  the  suavity  which  we  ex¬ 
perience  when  half  way  toward  these  Indies ;  and  the  more  the 
ships  approach  the  lands  so  much  more  do  they  perceive  the 
temperance  and  softness  of  the  air,  the  clearness  of  the  sky, 
and  the  amenity  and  fragrance  sent  forth  from  the  groves  and 
forests;  much  more  certainly  than  in  April  in  Andalusia.”* 

They  now  began  to  see  large  patches  of  herbs  and  weeds 
drifting  from  the  west,  and  increasing  in  quantity  as  they  ad¬ 
vanced.  Some  of  these  weeds  were  such  as  grow  about  rocks, 
others  such  as  are  produced  in  rivers ;  some  were  yellow  and 
withered,  others  so  green  as  to  have  apparently  been  recently 
washed  from  land.  On  one  of  these  patches  was  a  live  crab, 
which  Columbus  carefully  preserved.  They  saw  also  a  white 
tropical  bird,  of  a  kind  which  never  sleeps  upon  the  sea.  Tunny 
fish  also  played  about  the  ships,  one  of  which  was  killed  by  the 
crew  of  the  Nina.  Columbus  now  called  to  mind  the  account 
given  by  Aristotle  of  certain  ships  of  Cadiz,  which,  coasting  the 
shores  outside  of  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar,  were  driven  westward 
by  an  impetuous  east  wind,  until  they  reached  a  part  of  the 
ocean  covered  with  vast  fields  of  weeds,  resembling  sunken 
islands,  among  which  they  beheld  many  tunny  fish.  He  sup¬ 
posed  himself  arrived  in  this  weedy  sea,  as  it  had  been  called, 
from  which  the  ancient  mariners  had  turned  back  in  dismay, 
but  which  he  regarded  with  animated  hope,  as  indicating  the 
vicinity  of  land.  Not  that  he  had  yet  any  idea  of  reaching  the 
object  of  his  search,  the  eastern  end  of  Asia;  for,  according  to 
his  computation,  he  had  come  but  three  hundred  and  sixty 
leagues  t  since  leaving  the  Canary  Islands,  and  he  placed  the 
main  land  of  India  much  farther  on. 

On  the  18th  of  September  the  same  weather  continued ;  a  soft 
steady  breeze  from  the  east  filled  every  sail,  while,  to  use  the 
ycords  of  Columbus,  the  sea  was  as  calm  as  the  Guadalquiver  at 
Seville.  He  fancied  that  the  water  of  the  sea  grew  fresher  as 
he  advanced,  and  noticed  this  as  a  proof  of  the  superior  sweet¬ 
ness  and  purity  of  the  air.  \ 

*  Las  Casas,  Hist.  Ind.,  lib.  i.  cap.  36,  ms. 

+  Of  twenty  to  the  degree  of  latitude,  the  unity  of  distance  used  throughout  this 
work. 

X  Las  Casas,  Hist.  Ind.,  lib.  i.  cap.  38. 


98 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS . 


The  crews  were  all  in  high  spirits ;  each  ship  strove  to  get  in 
the  advance,  and  every  seaman  was  eagerly  on  the  look-out ; 
for  the  sovereigns  had  promised  a  pension  of  ten  thousand  ma- 
ravedis  to  him  who  should  first  discover  land.  Martin  Alonzo 
ETnzon  crowded  all  canvas,  and,  as  the  Pinta  was  a  fast  sailer, 
he  generally  kept  the  lead.  In  the  afternoon  he  hailed  the  ad¬ 
miral  and  informed  him  that,  from  the  flight  of  a  great  number 
of  birds  and  from  the  appearance  of  the  northern  horizon,  he 
thought  there  was  land  in  that  direction. 

There  was  in  fact  a  cloudiness  in  the  north,  such  as  often 
hangs  over  land;  and  at  sunset  it  assumed  such  shapes  and 
masses  that  many  fancied  they  beheld  islands.  There  was  a 
universal  wish,  therefore,  to  steer  for  that  quarter.  Columbus, 
however,  was  persuaded  that  they  were  mere  illusions.  Every 
one  who  has  made  a  sea  voyage  must  have  witnessed  the  de¬ 
ceptions  caused  by  clouds  resting  upon  the  horizon,  especially 
about  sunset  and  sunrise ;  which  the  eye,  assisted  by  the  imagi¬ 
nation  and  desire,  easily  converts  into  the  wished-for  land. 
This  is  particularly  the  case  within  the  tropics,  where  the  clouds 
at  sunset  assume  the  most  singular  appearances. 

On  the  following  day  there  were  drizzling  showers,  unaccom¬ 
panied  by  wind,  which  Columbus  considered  favorable  signs; 
two  boobies  also  flew  on  board  the  ships,  birds  which,  he  ob¬ 
served,  seldom  fly  twenty  leagues  from  land.  He  sounded, 
therefore,  with  a  line  of  two  hundred  fathoms,  but  found  no 
bottom.  He  supposed  he  might  be  passing  between  islands, 
lying  to  the  north  and  south,  but  was  unwilling  to  waste  the 
present  favoring  breeze  by  going  in  seach  of  them ;  besides,  he 
had  confidently  affirmed  that  land  was  to  be  found  by  keeping 
steadfastly  to  the  west ;  his  whole  expedition  had  been  founded 
on  such  a  presumption ;  he  should,  therefore,  risk  all  credit  and 
authority  with  his  people  were  he  to  appear  to  doubt  and  waver, 
and  to  go  groping  blindly  from  point  to  point  of  the  compass. 
He  resolved,  therefore,  to  keep  one  bold  course  always  west* 
ward,  until  he  should  reach  the  coast  of  India ;  and  afterward^ 
if  advisable,  to  seek  these  islands  on  his  return.* 

Notwithstanding  his  precaution  to  keep  the  people  ignoran* 
of  the  distance  they  had  sailed,  they  were  now  growing  ex¬ 
tremely  uneasy  at  the  length  of  the  voyage.  They  had  advanced 
much  farther  west  than  ever  man  had  sailed  before,  and  though 


*  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  20.  Extracts  from  Journal  of  Columb.  Navarrete,  t.  i. 
p.  16. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


99 


already  beyond  the  reach  of  succor,  still  they  continued  daily 
leaving  vast  tracts  of  ocean  behind  them,  and  pressing  onward 
and  onward  into  that  apparently  boundless  abyss.  It  is  true 
they  had  been  flattered  by  various  indications  of  land,  and  still 
others  were  occurring ;  but  all  mocked  them  with  vain  hopes  : 
after  being  hailed  with  a  transient  joy,  they  passed  away,  one 
after  another,  and  the  same  interminable  expanse  of  sea  and 
sky  continued  to  extend  before  them.  Even  the  bland  and  gem 
tie  breeze,  uniformly  aft,  was  now  conjured  by  their  ingenious 
fears  into  a  cause  of  alarm ;  for  they  began  to  imagine  that  the 
wind,  in  these  seas,  might  always  prevail  from  the  east,  and  if 
so,  would  never  permit  their  return  to  Spain. 

Columbus  endeavored  to  dispel  these  gloomy  presages,  some¬ 
times  by  argument  and  expostulation,  sometimes  by  awakening 
fresh  hopes,  and  pointing  out  new  signs  of  land.  On  the  20th 
of  September  the  wind  veered,  with  light  breezes  from  the 
south-west.  These,  though  adverse  to  their  progress,  had  a 
cheering  effect  upon  the  people,  as  they  proved  that  the  wind 
did  not  always  prevail  from  the  east.  *  Several  birds  also  visited 
the  ships ;  three,  of  a  small  kind  which  keep  about  groves  and 
orchards,  came  singing  in  the  morning,  and  flew  away  again  in 
the  evening.  Their  song  cheered  the  hearts  of  the  dismayed 
mariners,  who  hailed  it  as  the  voice  of  land.  The  larger  fowl, 
they  observed,  were  strong  of  wing,  and  might  venture  far  to 
sea ;  but  such  small  birds  were  too  feeble  to  fly  far,  and  their 
singing  showed  that  they  were  not  exhausted  by  their  flight. 

On  the  following  day  there  was  either  a  profound  calm  or 
light  winds  from  the  south-west.  The  sea,  as  far  as  the  eye 
could  reach,  was  covered  with  weeds ;  a  phenomenon,  often  ob¬ 
served  in  this  part  of  the  ocean,  which  has  sometimes  the  ap¬ 
pearance  of  a  vast  inundated  meadow.  This  has  been  attributed 
to  immense  quantities  of  submarine  plants,  which  grow  at  the 
bottom  of  the  sea  until  ripe,  when  they  are  detached  by  the 
motion  of  the  waves  and  currents,  and  rise  to  the  surfaced 
These  fields  of  weeds  were  at  first  regarded  with  great  satis¬ 
faction,  but  at  length  they  became,  in  many  id  aces,  so  dense 
and  matted  as  in  some  degree  to  impede  the  s.*  n-mg  of  the  ships, 
which  must  have  been  under  very  little  headway.  The  crews 
now  called  to  mind  some  tale  about  the  frozen  ocean,  where 


*  Mucho  me  fue  necesario  este  viento  contrario,  porque  mi  gente  andaban  muj* 
estimulados,  que  pensaban  que  no  ventaban  estos  mares  vientos  para  volver  a  Es 
pafia.  Primer  Viage  de  Colon.  Navarrete,  tom.  i.  p.  12. 
t  Humboldt,  Personal  Narrative,  book  i.  cap.  1. 


100 


LIFE  OF  CELTS  TOFFEE  COLUMBUS. 


chips  were  said  to  be  sometimes  fixed  immovable.  They  en¬ 
deavored,  therefore,  to  avoid  as  much  as  possible  these  floating 
masses,  lest  some  disaster  of  the  kind  might  happen  to  them¬ 
selves.*  Others  considered  these  weeds  as  proof  that  the  sea 
was  growing  shallower,  and  began  to  talk  of  lurking  rocks,  and 
shoals,  and  treacherous  quicksands ;  and  of  the  danger  of  run¬ 
ning  aground,  as  it  were,  in  the  midst  of  the  ocean,  where  their 
vessels  might  rot  and  fall  to  pieces,  far  out  of  the  track  of  hu 
man  aid,  and  without  any  shore  where  the  crews  might  take 
refuge.  They  had  evidently  some  confused  notion  of  the  ancient 
story  of  the  sunken  island  of  Atalantis,  and  feared  that  they 
were  arriving  at  that  part  of  the  ocean  where  navigation  was 
said  to  be  obstructed  by  drowned  lands,  and  the  ruins  of  an 
engulfed  country. 

To  dispel  these  fears,  the  admiral  had  frequent  recourse  to 
the  lead ;  but  though  he  sounded  with  a  deep-sea  line,  he  still 
found  no  bottom.  The  minds  of  the  crews,  however,  had  grad¬ 
ually  become  diseased.  They  were  full  of  vague  terrors  and 
superstitious  fancies :  they  construed  everything  into  a  cause  of 
alarm,  and  harassed  their  commander  by  incessant  murmurs. 

For  three  days  there  was  a  continuance  of  light  summer 
airs  from  the  southward  and  westward,  and  the  sea  was  as 
smooth  as  a  mirror.  A  whale  was  seen  heaving  up  its  huge 
form  at  a  distance,  which  Columbus  immediately  pointed  out 
as  a  favorable  indication,  affirming  that  these  fish  were  gene¬ 
rally  in  the  neighborhood  of  land.  The  crews,  however,  be¬ 
came  uneasy  at  the  calmness  of  the  weather.  They  observed 
that  the  contrary  winds  which  they  experienced  were  transient 
and  unsteady,  and  so  light  as  not  to  ruffle  the  surface  of  the 
sea,  which  maintained  a  sluggish  calm  like  a  lake  of  dead 
water.  Everything  differed,  they  said,  in  these  strange  re¬ 
gions  from  the  world  to  which  they  had  been  accustomed.  The 
only  winds  which  prevailed  with  any  constancy  and  force, 
were  from  the  east,  and  they  had  not  power  to  disturb  the  tor¬ 
pid  stillness  of  the  ocean;  there  was  a  risk,  therefore,  either  of 
perishing  amid  stagnant  and  shoreless  waters,  or  of  being  pre¬ 
vented,  by  contrary  winds,  from  ever  returning  to  their  native 
country. 

Columbus  continued  with  admirable  patience  to  reason  with 
these  fancies;  observing  that  the  calmness  of  the  sea  must  un¬ 
doubtedly  be  caused  by  the  vicinity  of  land  in  the  quarter  whence 


*  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap,  18, 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


101 


the  wind  blew,  which,  therefore,  had  not  space  sufficient  to  act 
upon  the  surface  and  heave  up  large  waves.  Terror,  how¬ 
ever,  multiplies  and  varies  the  forms  of  ideal  danger  a  thou¬ 
sand  times  faster  than  the  most  active  wisdom  can  dispel  them. 
The  more  Columbus  argued,  the  more  boisterous  became  the 
murmurs  of  his  crew,  until,  on  Sunday,  the  25th  of  Septem¬ 
ber,  there  came  on  a  heavy  swell  of  the  sea,  unaccompanied  by 
wind.  This  phenomenon  often  occurs  on  the  broad  ocean; 
being  either  the  expiring  undulations  of  some  past  gale,  or  the 
movement  given  to  the  sea  by  some  distant  current  of  wind ;  it 
was,  nevertheless,  regarded  with  astonishment  by  the  mariners, 
and  dispelled  the  imaginary  terrors  occasioned  by  the  calm. 

Columbus,  who  as  usual  considered  himself  under  the  imme¬ 
diate  eye  and  guardianship  of  Heaven  in  this  solemn  enterprise, 
intimates  in  his  journal  that  this  swelling  of  the  sea  seemed 
providentially  ordered  to  allay  the  rising  clamors  of  his  crew; 
comparing  it  to  that  which  so  miraculously  aided  Moses  when 
conducting  the  children  of  Israel  out  of  the  captivity  of 
Egypt.* 


CHAPTER  IV. 

CONTINUATION  OF  THE  VOYAGE— DISCOVERY  OF  LAND. 

[1492.] 

The  situation  of  Columbus  was  daily  becoming  more  and 
more  critical.  In  proportion  as  he  approached  the  regions 
where  he  expected  to  find  land,  the  impatience  of  his  crews  aug¬ 
mented.  The  favorable  signs  which  increased  his  confidence, 
were  derided  by  them  as  delusive ;  and  there  was  danger  of 
their  rebelling,  and  obliging  him  to  turn  back,  when  on  the 
point  of  realizing  the  object  of  all  his  labors.  They  beheld 
themselves  with  dismay  still  wafted  onward,  over  the  bound¬ 
less  wastes  of  what  appeared  to  them  a  mere  watery  desert, 
surrounding  the  habitable  world.  What  was  to  become  of 


*  “  Como  la  mar  estuviese  mansa  y  liana  murmuraba  la  gente  diciendo  que,  pue* 
por  alii  no  habia  mar  grande  que  nunca  ventaria  para  volver  k  Espana;  pero  des¬ 
pues  alzdse  mucho  la  mar  y  sin  viento,  que  los  asombraba;  por  lo  cual  dice  aqui  el 
A-lmirante;  asi  que  muy  necesario  me  fue  la  mar  alta ,  que  no  parecid,  salvo  el  tiem- 
po  de  los  Judios  cuando  salieron  de  Egipto  contra  Moyses  que  los  sacaba  de  cap 
tiverio."— Journal  of  Colomb.  Navarrete,  tom.  i.  p.  12. 


102 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


them  should  their  provisions  fail?  Their  ships  were  too  weak 
and  defective  even  for  the  great  voyage  they  had  already  made, 
but  if  they  were  still  to  press  forward,  adding  at  every  moment 
to  the  immense  expanse  behind  them,  how  should  they  ever  be 
able  to  return,  having  no  intervening  port  where  they  might 
victual  and  refit? 

In  this  way  they  fed  each  other’s  discontents,  gathering  to¬ 
gether  in  little  knots,  and  fomenting  a  spirit  of  mutinous  oppo¬ 
sition  ;  and  when  we  consider  the  natural  fire  of  the  Spanish 
temperament  and  its  impatience  of  control ;  and  that  a  great 
part  of  these  men  were  sailing  on  compulsion,  we  cannot  won¬ 
der  that  there  was  imminent  danger  of  their  breaking  forth 
into  open  rebellion  and  compelling  Columbus  to  turn  back.  In 
their  secret  conferences  they  exclaimed  against  him  as  a  des¬ 
perado,  bent,  in  a  mad  phantasy,  upon  doing  something  ex¬ 
travagant  to  render  himself  notorious.  What  were  their 
sufferings  and  dangers  to  one  evidently  content  to  sacrifice  his 
own  life  for  the  chance  of  distinction?  What  obligations 
bound  them  to  continue  on  with  him ;  or  when  were  the  terms  of 
their  agreement  to  be  considered  as  fulfilled?  They  had  already 
penetrated  unknown  seas,  untraversed  by  a  sail,  far  beyond 
where  man  had  ever  before  ventured.  They  had  done  enough 
to  gain  themselves  a  character  for  courage  and  hardihood  in 
undertaking  such  an  enterprise  and  persisting  in  it  so  far. 
How  much  farther  were  they  to  go  in  quest  of  a  merely  conjec¬ 
tured  land?  Were  they  to  sail  on  until  they  perished,  or  until 
all  return  became  impossible?  In  such  case  they  would  be  the 
authors  of  their  own  destruction. 

On  the  other  hand,  should  they  consult  their  safety,  and 
turn  back  before  too  late,  who  would  blame  them?  Any  com¬ 
plaints  made  by  Columbus  would  be  of  no  weight ;  he  was  a 
foreigner,  without  friends  or  influence ;  his  schemes  had  been 
condemned  by  the  learned,  and  discountenanced  by  people  of 
all  ranks.  He  had  no  party  to  uphold  him,  and  a  host  of  op¬ 
ponents  whose  pride  of  opinion  would  be  gratified  by  his  fail¬ 
ure.  Or,  as  an  effectual  means  of  preventing  his  complaints, 
they  might  throw  him  into  the  sea,  and  give  out  that  he  had 
fallen  overboard  while  busy  with  his  instruments  contemplat¬ 
ing  the  stars ;  a  report  which  no  one  would  have  either  the  in¬ 
clination  or  the  means  to  controvert.* 

Columbus  was  not  ignorant  of  the  mutinous  disposition  of 


*  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  19.  Herrera,  Hist.  Ind.,  decad.  i.  lib.  i.  cap.  10. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


103 


"his  crew,  but  he  still  maintained  a  serene  and  steady  counte¬ 
nance  ;  soothing  some  with  gentle  words ;  endeavoring  to  stim¬ 
ulate  the  pride  or  avarice  of  others,  and  openly  menacing  the 
refractory  with  signal  punishment,  should  they  do  anything 
to  impede  the  voyage. 

On  the  25th  of  September  the  wind  again  became  favor¬ 
able,  and  they  were  able  to  resume  their  course  directly  to  the 
west.  The  airs  being  light  and  the  sea  calm,  the  vessels  sailed 
near  to  each  other,  and  Columbus  had  much  conversation  with 
Martin  Alonzo  Pinzon  on  the  subject  of  a  chart  which  the  for¬ 
mer  had  sent  three  days  before  on  board  of  the  Pinta.  Pinzon 
thought  that,  according  to  the  indications  of  the  map,  they 
ought  to  be  in  the  neighborhood  of  Cipango,  and  the  other 
islands  which  the  admiral  had  therein  delineated.  Columbus 
partly  entertained  the  same  idea,  but  thought  it  possible  that 
the  ships  might  have  been  borne  out  of  their  track  by  the 
prevalent  currents,  or  that  they  had  not  come  so  far  as  the 
pilots  had  reckoned.  He  desired  that  the  chart  might  be  re¬ 
turned,  and  Pinzon,  tying  it  to  the  end  of  a  cord,  flung  it  on 
board  to  him.  While  Columbus,  his  pilot,  and  several  of  his 
experienced  mariners  were  studying  the  map,  and  endeavoring 
to  make  out  from  it  their  actual  position,  they  heard  a  shout 
from  the  Pinta,  and  looking  up,  beheld  Martin  Alonzo  Pinzon 
mounted  on  the  stern  of  his  vessel  crying  ‘  ‘  Land !  land !  Senor, 
I  claim  my  reward!”  He  pointed  at  the  same  time  to  the 
south-west,  where  there  was  indeed  an  appearance  of  land  at 
about  twenty-five  leagues’  distance.  Upon  this  Columbus 
threw  himself  on  his  knees  and  returned  thanks  to  God ;  and 
Martin  Alonzo  repeated  the  Gloria  in  excelsis ,  in  which  he  was 
joined  by  his  own  crew  and  that  of  the  admiral.* 

The  seamen  now  mounted  to  the  masthead  or  climbed  about 
the  rigging;  straining  their  eyes  in  the  direction  pointed  out. 
The  conviction  became  so  general  of  land  in  that  quarter,  and 
the  joy  of  the  people  so  ungovernable,  that  Columbus  found  it 
necessary  to  vary  from  his  usual  course,  and  stand  all  night  to 
the  south-west.  The  morning  tight,  however,  put  an  end  to  all 
their  hopes,  as-  to  a  dream.  The  fancied  land  proved  to  be 
nothing  but  an  evening  cloud,  and  had  vanished  in  the  night. 
With  dejected  hearts  they  once  more  resumed  their  western 
course,  from  which  Columbus  would  never  have  varied,  but  in 
compliance  with  their  clamorous  wishes. 


♦Journal  of  Columb.,  Primer Viage,  Navarrete,  tom.  i. 


104 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


For  several  days  they  continued  on  with  the  same  propitious 
breeze,  tranquil  sea,  and  mild,  delightful  weather.  The  water 
was  so  calm  that  the  sailors  amused  themselves  with  swimming 
about  the  vessel.  Dolphins  began  to  abound,  and  flying  fish, 
darting  into  the  air,  fell  upon  the  decks.  The  continued  signs 
of  land  diverted  the  attention  of  the  crews,  and  insensibly  be¬ 
guiled  them  onward. 

On  the  1st  of  October,  according  to  the  reckoning  of  the  pilot 
of  the  admiral’s  ship,  they  had  come  five  hundred  and  eighty 
leagues  west  since  leaving  the  Canary  Islands.  The  reckoning 
which  Columbus  showed  the  crew  was  five  hundred  and 
eighty-four,  but  the  reckoning  which  he  kept  privately  was 
seven  hundred  and  seven.*  On  the  following  day  the  weeds 
floated  from  east  to  west ;  and  on  the  third  day  no  birds  were 
to  be  seen. 

The  crews  now  began  to  fear  that  they  had  passed  between 
islands,  from  one  to  the  other  of  which  the  birds  had  been  fly¬ 
ing.  Columbus  had  also  some  doubts  of  the  kind,  but  refused 
to  alter  his  westward  course.  The  people  again  uttered  mur¬ 
murs  and  menaces ;  but  on  the  following  day  they  were  visited 
by  such  flights  of  birds,  and  the  various  indications  of  land  be¬ 
came  so  numerous,  that  from  a  state  of  despondency  they 
passed  to  one  of  confident  expectation. 

Eager  to  obtain  the  promised  pension,  the  seamen  were  con¬ 
tinually  giving  the  cry  of  land,  on  the  least  appearance  of  the 
kind.  To  put  a  stop  to  these  false  alarms,  which  produced  con¬ 
tinual  disappointments,  Columbus  declared  that  should  any 
one  give  such  notice,  and  land  not  be  discovered  within  three 
days  afterward,  he  should  thenceforth  forfeit  all  claim  to  the 
reward. 

On  the  evening  of  the  6th  of  October,  Martin  Alonzo  Pinzon 
began  to  lose  confidence  in  their  present  course,  and  proposed 
that  they  should  stand  more  to  the  southward.  Columbus, 
however,  still  persisted  in  steering  directly  west.f 

Observing  this  difference  of  opinion  in  a  person  so  important 
in  his  squadron  as  Pinzon,  and  fearing  that  chance  or  de¬ 
sign  might  scatter  the  ships,  he  ordered  that,  should  either  of 
the  caravels  be  separated  from  him,  it  should  stand  to  the  west, 
and  endeavor  as  soon  as  possible  to  join  company  again;  he 
directed,  also,  that  the  vessels  should  keep  near  to  him  at  sun- 


*  Navarrete.  tom.  i.  p.  16. 
t  Journ.  of  Columbus,  Navarrete,  tom.  i.  p.  17. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS.  105 

rise  and  sunset,  as  at  these  times  the  state  of  the  atmosphere 
is  most  favorable  to  the  discovery  of  distant  land. 

On  the  morning  of  the  7th  of  October,  at  sunrise,  several 
of  the  admiral’s  crew  thought  they  beheld  land  in  the  west,  but 
so  indistinctly  that  no  one  ventured  to  proclaim  it,  lest  ho 
should  be  mistaken,  and  forfeit  all  chance  of  the  reward;  the 
Nina,  however,  being  a  good  sailor,  pressed  forward  to  ascer¬ 
tain  the  fact.  In  a  little  while  a  flag  was  hoisted  at  her  mast¬ 
head,  and  a  gun  discharged,  being  the  preconcerted  signals  foi 
land.  New  joy  was  awakened  throughout  the  little  squadron, 
and  every  eye  was  turned  to  the  west.  As  they  advanced, 
however,  their  cloud -built  hopes  faded  away,  and  before  even¬ 
ing  the  fancied  land  had  again  melted  into  air.* 

The  crews  now  sank  into  a  degree  of  dejection  proportioned 
to  their  recent  excitement ;  but  new  circumstances  occurred  to 
arouse  them.  Columbus,  having  observed  great  flights  of  small 
field-birds  going  toward  the  south-west,  concluded  they  must 
be  secure  of  some  neighboring  land,  where  they  would  find 
food  and  a  resting-place.  He  knew  the  importance  which  the 
Portuguese  voyagers  attached  to  the  flight  of  birds,  by  following 
which  they  had  discovered  most  of  their  islands.  He  had  now 
come  seven  hundred  and  fifty  leagues,  the  distance  at  which 
he  had  computed  to  find  the  island  of  Cipango ;  as  there  was  no 
appearance  of  it,  he  might  have  missed  it  through  some  mis¬ 
take  in  the  latitude.  He  determined,  therefore,  on  the  evening 
of  the  7th  of  October,  to  alter  his  course  to  the  west-south- west, 
the  direction  in  which  the  birds  generally  flew,  and  continue 
that  direction  for  at  least  two  days.  After  all,  it  was  no  great 
deviation  from  his  main  course,  and  would  meet  the  wishes  of 
the  Pinzons,  as  well  as  be  inspiriting  to  his  followers  gener¬ 
ally. 

For  three  days  they  stood  in  this  direction,  and  the  further 
they  went  the  more  frequent  and  encouraging  were  the  signs 
of  land.  Flights  of  small  birds  of  various  colors,  some  of  them 
such  as  sing  in  the  fields,  came  flying  about  the  ships,  and 
then  continued  toward  the  south-west,  and  others  were  heard 
also  flying  by  in  the  night.  Tunny  fish  played  about  the  smooth 
sea,  and  a  heron,  a  pelican,  and  a  duck  were  seen,  all  bound  in 
the  same  direction.  The  herbage  which  floated  by  was  fresh 
and  green,  as  if  recently  from  land,  and  the  air,  Columbus 
observes,  was  sweet  and  fragrant  as  April  breezes  in  Seville. 


*Hist  del  Almirante,  cap.  20.  Journ.  of  Columbus,  Navarrete,  tom.  1. 


106 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  CO LV  MB  US. 


All  these,  however,  were  regarded  by  the  crews  as  so  many 
delusions  beguiling  them  on  to  destruction ;  and  when  on  the 
evening  of  the  third  day  they  beheld  the  sun  go  down  upon  a 
shoreless  horizon,  they  broke  forth  into  turbulent  clamor. 
They  declaimed  against  this  obstinacy  in  tempting  fate  by  con¬ 
tinuing  on  into  a  boundless  sea.  They  insisted  upon  turning 
homeward,  and  abandoning  the  voyage  as  hopeless.  Columbus 
endeavored  to  pacify  them  by  gentle  words  and  promises  of 
large  rewards ;  but  finding  that  they  only  increased  in  clamor, 
he  assumed  a  decided  tone.  He  told  them  it  was  useless  to 
murmur,  the  expedition  had  been  sent  by  the  sovereigns  to 
seek  the  Indies,  and,  happen  what  might,  he  was  determined 
to  persevere,  until,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  he  should  accom¬ 
plish  the  enterprise.* 

Columbus  was  now  at  open  defiance  with  his  crew,  and  his 


*  Hist.  del.  Almirante,  cap.  20.  Las.  Casas,  lib.  i.  Journal  of  Columb.,  Navarrete, 
Colec.  tom.  i.  p.  19. 

It  has  been  asserted  by  various  historians,  that  Columbus,  a  day  or  two  previous 
to  coming  in  sight  of  the  New  World,  capitulated  with  his  mutinuous  crew,  promis¬ 
ing,  if  he  did  not  discover  land  within  three  days,  to  abandon  the  voyage.  There  is 
no  authority  for  such  an  assertion,  either  in  the  history  of  his  son  Fernando  or  that 
of  the  Bishop  Las  Casas,  each  of  whom  had  the  admiral’s  papers  before  him.  There 
is  no  mention  of  such  a  circumstance  in  the  extracts  made  from  the  journal  by  Las 
Casas,  which  have  recently  been  brought  to  light;  nor  is  it  asserted  by  either  Peter 
Martyr  or  the  Curate  of  Los  Palacios,  both  contemporaries  and  acquaintances  of 
Columbus,  and  who  could  scarcely  have  failed  to  mention  so  striking  a  fact,  if  true. 
It  rests  merely  ilpon  the  authority  of  Oviedo,  who  is  of  inferior  credit  to  either  of 
the  authors  above  cited,  and  was  grossly  misled  as  to  many  of  the  particulars  of 
this  voyage  by  a  pilot  of  the  name  of  Hernan  Perez  Matheo,  who  was  hostile  to 
Columbus.  In  the  manuscript  process  of  the  memorable  lawsuit  between  Don 
Diego,  son  of  the  admiral,  and  the  fiscal  of  the  crown,  is  the  evidence  of  one  Pedro 
de  Bilboa,  who  testifies  that  he  heard  many  times  that  some  of  the  pilots  and  mari¬ 
ners  wished  to  turn  back,  bnt  that  the  admiral  promised  them  presents,  and  en¬ 
treated  them  to  wait  two  or  three  days,  before  wrhich  time  he  should  discover  land. 
(“Pedro  de  Bilbao,  oyo  muchas  veces  que  algunos  pilotos  y  marineros  querian 
vol  verse  si  no  fuera  por  el  Almirante  que  les  prometio  donos,  les  nogo  esperasen 
dos  o  ti  es  dias  i  que  antes,  del  termino  descubrieratierra.”)  This,  if  true,  implies 
no  capitulation  to  relinquish  the  enterprise. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  was  asserted  by  some  of  the  witnesses  in  the  above-men¬ 
tioned  suit,  that  Columbus,  after  having  proceeded  some  few  hundred  leagues  with¬ 
out  finding  land,  lost  confidence  and  wished  to  turn  back;  but  was  persuaded  and 
even  piqued  to  continue  by  the  Pinzons.  This  assertion  carries  falsehood  on  its 
very  face.  It  is  in  total  contradiction  to  that  persevering  constancy  and  undaunted 
resolution  displayed  by  Columbus,  not  merely  in  the  present  voyage,  but  from  first 
to  last  of  his  difficult  and  dangerous  career.  This  testimony  was  given  by  some  of 
the  mutinuous  men,  anxious  to  exaggerate  the  merits  of  the  Pinzons,  and  to  depre¬ 
ciate  that  of  Columbus.  Fortunately,  the  extracts  from  the  journal  of  the  latter, 
written  from  day  to  day,  with  guileless  simplicity,  and  all  the  air  of  truth,  disprove 
these  fables,  and  show  that  on  the  very  day  previous  to  his  discovery,  he  expressed 
a  peremptory  determination  to  persevere,  in  defiance  of  all  dangers  and  difficulties. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBVS. 


107 


situation  became  desperate.  Fortunately  the  manifestations  of 
the  vicinity  of  land  were  such  on  the  following  day  as  no  longer 
to  admit  a  doubt.  Besides  a  quantity  of  fresh  weeds,  such  as 
grow  in  rivers,  they  saw  a  green  fish  of  a  kind  which  keeps 
about  rocks ;  then  a  branch  of  thorn  with  berries  on  it,  and  re¬ 
cently  separated  from  the  tree,  floated  by  them;  then  they 
picked  up  a  reed,  a  small  board,  and,  above  all,  a  staff  arti¬ 
ficially  carved.  All  gloom  and  mutiny  now  gave  way  to  san¬ 
guine  expectation ;  and  throughout  the  day  each  one  was  ea¬ 
gerly  on  the  watch,  in  hopes  of  being  the  first  to  discover  the 
long-sought-for  land. 

In  the  evening,  when,  according  to  invariable  custom  on 
board  of  the  admiral’s  ship,  the  mariners  had  sung  the  ‘  ‘  Salve 
Regina,”  or  vesper  hymn  to  the  Virgin,  he  made  an  impressive 
address  to  his  crew.  He  pointed  out  the  goodness  of  God  in 
thus  conducting  them  by  soft  and  favoring  breezes  across  a 
tranquil  ocean,  cheering  their  hopes  continually  with  fresh 
signs,  increasing  as  their  fears  augmented,  and  thus  leading 
and  guiding  them  to  a  promised  land.  He  now  reminded  them 
of  the  orders  he  had  given  on  leaving  the  Canaries,  that,  after 
sailing  westward  seven  hundred  leagues,  they  should  not  make 
sail  after  midnight.  Present  appearances  authorized  such  a 
precaution.  He  thought  it  probable  they  would  make  land  that 
very  night;  he  ordered,  therefore,  a  vigilant  look-out  to  be 
kept  from  the  forecastle,  promising  to  whomsoever  should 
make  the  discovery,  a  doublet  of  velvet,  in  addition  to  the 
pension  to  be  given  by  the  sovereigns.* 

The  breeze  had  been  fresh  all  day,  with  more  sea  than  usual, 
and  they  had  made  great  progress.  At  sunset  they  had  stood 
again  to  the  west,  and  were  ploughing  the  waves  at  a  rapid 
rate,  the  Pinta  keeping  the  lead,  from  her  superior  sailing. 
The  greatest  animation  prevailed  throughout  the  ships ;  not  an 
eye  was  closed  that  night.  As  the  evening  darkened,  Colum¬ 
bus  took  his  station  on  the  top  of  the  castle  or  cabin  on  the  high 
poop  of  his  vessel,  ranging  his  eye  along  the  dusky  horizon, 
and  maintaining  an  intense  and  unremitting  watch.  About 
ten  o’clock  he  thought  he  beheld  a  light  glimmering  at  a  great 
distance.  Fearing  his  eager  hopes  might  deceive  him,  he 
called  to  Pedro  Gutierrez,  gentleman  of  the  king’s  bedchamber, 
and  inquired  whether  he  saw  such  a  light ;  the  latter  replied  in 
the  affirmative.  Doubtful  whether  it  might  not  yet  be  some 


*  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  21. 


108 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


delusion  of  the  fancy,  Columbus  called  Rodrigo  Sanchez  of 
Segovia,  and  made  the  same  inquiry.  By  the  time  the  latter 
had  ascended  the  round-house  the  light  had  disappeared.  They 
saw  it  once  or  twice  afterward  in  sudden  and  passing  gleams-, 
as  if  it  were  a  torch  in  the  bark  of  a  fisherman,  rising  and  sink, 
ing  with  the  waves ;  or  in  the  hand  of  some  person  on  shore, 
borne  up  and  down  as  he  walked  from  house  to  house.  So 
transient  and  uncertain  were  these  gleams  that  few  attached 
any  importance  to  them ;  Columbus,  however,  considered  them 
as  certain  signs  of  land,  and,  moreover,  that  the  land  was 
inhabited. 

They  continued  their  course  until  two  in  the  morning,  when 
a  gun  from  the  Pinta  gave  the  joyful  signal  of  land.  It  was 
first  descried  by  a  mariner  named  Rodrigo  de  Triana ;  but  the 
reward  was  afterward  adjudged  to  the  admiral,  for  having  pre¬ 
viously  perceived  the  light.  The  land  was  now  clearly  seen 
about  two  leagues  distant,  whereupon  they  took  in  sail  and  lay 
to,  waiting  impatiently  for  the  dawn. 

The  thoughts  and  feelings  of  Columbus  in  this  little  space  of 
time  must  have  been  tumultuous  and  intense.  At  length,  in 
spite  of  every  difficulty  and  danger,  he  had  accomplished  his 
object.  The  great  mystery  of  the  ocean  was  revealed;  his 
theory,  which  had  been  the  scoff  of  sages,  was  triumphantly 
established ;  he  had  secured  to  himself  a  glory  durable  as  the 
world  itself. 

It  is  difficult  to  conceive  the  feelings  of  such  a  man,  at  such  a 
moment;  or  the  conjectures  which  must  have  thronged  upon 
his  mind,  as  to  the  land  before  him,  covered  with  darkness. 
That  it  was  fruitful,  was  evident  from  the  vegetables  which 
floated  from  its  shores.  He  thought,  too,  that  he  perceived  the 
fragrance  of  aromatic  groves.  The  moving  fight  he  had  beheld 
proved  it  the  residence  of  man.  But  what  were  its  inhabitants? 
Were  they  like  those  of  the  other  parts  of  the  globe;  or  were 
they  some  strange  and  monstrous  race,  such  as  the  imagination 
was  prone  in  those  times  to  give  to  all  remote  and  unknown 
regions?  Had  he  come  upon  some  wild  island  far  in  the  Indian 
sea;  or  was  this  the  famed  Cipango  itself,  the  object  of  his 
golden  fancies?  A  thousand  speculations  of  the  kind  must  have 
swarmed  upon  him,  as,  with  his  anxious  crews,  he  waited  for 
the  night  to  pass  away,  wondering  whether  the  morning  light 
would  reveal  a  savage  wilderness,  or  dawn  upon  spicy  groves, 
and  glittering  fanes,  and  gilded  cities,  and  all  the  splendor  of 
oriental  civilization. 


BOOK  IV. 


CHAPTER  I. 

FIRST  LANDING  OF  COLUMBUS  IN  THE  NEW  WORLD. 

It  was  on  Friday  morning,  the  12th  of  October,  that  Colum¬ 
bus  first  beheld  the  New  World.  As  the  day  dawned  he  saw 
before  him  a  level  island,  several  leagues  in  extent,  and  covered 
with  trees  like  a  continual  orchard.  Though  apparently  un¬ 
cultivated,  it  was  populous,  for  the  inhabitants  were  seen 
issuing  from  all  parts  of  the  woods  and  running  to  the  shore. 
They  were  perfectly  naked,  and,  as  they  stood  gazing  at  the 
ships,  appeared  by  their  attitudes  and  gestures  to  be  lost  in 
astonishment.  Columbus  made  signal  for  the  ships  to  cast 
anchor,  and  the  boats  to  be  manned  and  armed.  He  entered 
his  own  boat,  richly  attired  in  scarlet,  and  holding  the  royal 
standard;  while  Martin  Alonzo  Pinzon  and  Mincent  Jahez  his 
brother,  put  off  in  company  in  their  boats,  each  with  a  banner 
of  the  enterprise  emblazoned  with  a  green  cross,  having  on 
either  side  the  letters  F.  and  Y.,  the  initials  of  the  Castilian 
monarchs  Fernando  and  Ysabel,  surmounted  by  crowns. 

As  he  approached  the  shore,  Columbus,  who  was  disposed  for 
all  kinds  of  agreeable  impressions,  was  delighted  with  the 
purity  and  suavity  of  the  atmosphere,  the  crystal  transparency 
of  the  sea,  and  the  extraordinary  beauty  of  the  vegetation. 
He  beheld,  also,  fruits  of  an  unknown  kind  upon  the  trees 
which  overhung  the  shores.  On  landing  he  threw  himself  on 
his  knees,  kissed  the  earth,  and  returned  thanks  to  God  with 
tears  of  joy.  His  example  was  followed  by  the  rest,  whose 
hearts  indeed  overflowed  with  the  same  feelings  of  gratituda 
Columbus  then  rising  drew  his  sword,  displayed  the  royal 
standard,  and  assembling  round  him  the  two  captains,  with 
Rodrigo  de  Escobedo,  notary  of  the  armament,  Rodrigo  San¬ 
chez,  and  the  rest  who  had  landed,  he  took  solemn  possession 


110 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


in  the  name  of  the  Castilian  sovereigns,  giving  the  island  the 
name  of  San  Salvador.  Having  complied  with  the  requisite 
forms  and  ceremonies,  he  called  upon  all  present  to  take  the 
oath  of  obedience  to  him,  as  admiral  and  viceroy,  representing 
the  persons  of  the  sovereigns.* 

The  feelings  of  the  crew  now  burst  forth  in  the  most  extrava¬ 
gant  transports.  They  had  recently  considered  themselves 
devoted  men,  hurrying  forward  to  destruction ;  they  now  looked 
upon  themselves  as  favorites  of  fortune,  and  gave  themselves 
up  to  the  most  unbounded  joy.  They  thronged  around  the 
admiral  with  overflowing  zeal,  some  embracing  him,  others 
kissing  his  hands.  Those  who  had  been  most  mutinous  and 
turbulent  during  the  voyage,  were  now  most  devoted  and  en¬ 
thusiastic.  Some  begged  favors  of  him,  as  if  he  had  already 
wealth  and  honors  in  his  gift.  Many  abject  spirits,  who  had 
outraged  him  by  their  insolence,  now  crouched  at  his  feet,  beg¬ 
ging  pardon  for  all  the  trouble  they  had  caused  him,  and 
promising  the  blindest  obedience  for  the  future,  f 
The  natives  of  the  island,  when,  at  the  dawn  of  day,  they 
had  beheld  the  ships  hovering  on  their  coast,  had  supposed  them 
monsters  which  had  issued  from  the  deep  during  the  night. 
They  had  crowded  to  the  beach  and  watched  their  movements 
with  awful  anxiety.  Their  veering  about,  apparently  without 
effort,  and  the  shifting  and  furling  of  their  sails,  resembling 
huge  wings,  filled  them  with  astonishment.  When  they  beheld 
their  boats  approach  the  shore,  and  a  number  of  strange  beings 
clad  in  glittering  steel,  or  raiment  of  various  colors,  landing 
upon  the  beach,  they  fled  in  affright  to  the  woods.  Finding, 
however,  that  there  was  no  attempt  to  pursue  nor  molest  them, 
they  gradually  recovered  from  their  terror,  and  approached  the 
Spaniards  with  great  awe;  frequently  prostrating  themselves 
on  the  earth,  and  making  signs  of  adoration.  During  the  ceTe- 
monies  of  taking  possession,  they  remained  gazing  in  timid 
admiration  at  the  complexion,  the  beards,  the  shining  armor, 
and  splendid  dress  of  the  Spaniards.  The  admiral  particularly 


*  In  the  Tablas  Chronologicas  of  Padre  Claudio  Clemente,  is  conserved  a  form  of 
prayer,  said  to  have  been  used  by  Columbus  on  this  occasion,  and  which,  by  order 
of  the  Castilian  sovereigns,  was  afterward  used  by  Balboa,  Cortez,  and  Pizarro  in 
their  discoveries.  “Doinine  Deus  aeterne  et  omnipotens,  sacro  tuo  verbo  coelum, 
et  terram,  et  mare  creasti;  benedicatur  el  glorificetur  nomen  tuum,  laudetur  tua 
majestas,  quae  dignita  est  per  humilem  servum  tuum,  ut  ejus  sacrum  nomen  agnos- 
catur,  et  praediceturin  hac  altera  mundi  parte.”  Tab.  Chron.  de  los  Descub.,  decad. 
I.  Valencia,  1689 

t  Oviedo,  lib.  i.  cap.  6.  Las  Casas,  Hist,  Ind.,  lib.  i.  cap.  40. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


Ill 


attracted  their  attention,  from  his  commanding  height,  his  air 
of  authority,  his  dress  of  scarlet,  and  the  deference  which  was 
paid  him  by  his  companions ;  all  which  pointed  him  out  to  be 
the  commander.*  When  they  had  still  further  recovered  from 
their  fears,  they  approached  the  Spaniards,  touched  their 
beards,  and  examined  their  hands  and  faces,  admiring  their 
whiteness.  Columbus  was  pleased  with  their  gentleness  and 
confiding  simplicity,  and  suffered  their  scrutiny  with  perfect 
acquiescence,  winning  them  by  his  benignity.  They  now  sup¬ 
posed  that  the  ships  had  sailed  out  of  the  crystal  firmament 
which  bounded  their  horizon,  or  had  descended  from  above  on 
their  ample  wings,  and  that  these  marvellous  beings  were  in¬ 
habitants  of  the  skies,  f 

The  natives  of  the  island  were  no  less  objects  of  curiosity  to 
the  Spaniards,  differing,  as  they  did,  from  any  race  of  men  they 
had  ever  seen.  Their  appearance  gave  no  promise  of  either 
wealth  or  civilization,  for  they  were  entirely  naked,  and 
painted  with  a  variety  of  colors.  With  some  it  was  confined 
merely  to  a  part  of  the  face,  the  nose,  or  around  the  eyes ;  with 
others  it  extended  to  the  whole  body,  and  gave  them  a  wild 
and  fantastic  appearance.  Their  complexion  was  of  a  tawny 
or  copper  hue,  and  they  were  entirely  destitute  of  beards. 
Their  hair  was  not  crisped,  like  the  recently-discovered  tribes 
of  the  African  coast,  under  the  same  latitude,  but  straight  and 
coarse,  partly  cut  short  above  the  ears,  but  some  locks  were 
left  long  behind  and  falling  upon  their  shoulders.  Their  fea¬ 
tures,  though  obscured  and  disfigured  by  paint,  were  agree¬ 
able;  they  had  lofty  foreheads  and  remarkably  fine  eyes. 
They  were  of  moderate  stature  and  well-shaped ;  most  of  them 
appeared  to  be  under  thirty  years  of  age ;  there  was  but  one 
female  with  them,  quite  young,  naked  like  her  companions, 
and  beautifully  formed. 

As  Columbus  supposed  himself  to  have  landed  on  an  island 
at  the  extremity  of  India,  he  called  the  natives  by  the  general 
appellation  of  Indians,  which  was  universally  adopted  before 
the  true  nature  of  his  discovery  was  known,  and  has  since  been 
extended  to  all  the  aboriginals  of  the  New  World. 


*  Las  Casas,  ubi  sup. 

t  The  idea  that  the  white  men  came  from  heaven  was  universally  entertained  by 
the  inhabitants  of  the  New  World.  When  in  the  course  of  subsequent  voyages  the 
Spaniards  conversed  with  the  cacique  Nicaragua,  he  inquired  how  they  came  down 
from  the  skies,  whether  flying  or  whether  they  descended  on  clouds.  Herrera,  decad. 
iii.  lib.  iv.  cap.  17. 


112 


LIFE  OF  CHRIS  TOFU  EE  COLUMBUS. 


The  islanders  were  friendly  and  gentle.  Their  only  arms 
were  lances,  hardened  at  the  end  by  fire,  or  pointed  with  a 
flint,  or  the  teeth  or  bone  of  a  fish.  There  was  no  iron  to  be 
seen,  nor  did  they  appear  acquainted  with  its  properties ;  for, 
when  a  drawn  sword  was  presented  to  them,  they  unguardedly 
took  it  by  the  edge. 

Columbus  distributed  among  them  colored  caps,  glass  beads, 
hawks’  bells,  and  other  trifles,  such  as  the  Portuguese  were 
accustomed  to  trade  with  among  the  nations  of  the  gold  coast 
of  Africa.  They  received  them  eagerly,  hung  the  beads  round 
their  necks,  and  were  wonderfully  pleased  with  their  finery, 
and  with  the  sound  of  the  bells.  The  Spaniards  remained  all 
day  on  shore  refreshing  themselves  after  their  anxious  voyage 
amid  the  beautiful  groves  of  the  island,  and  returned  on  board 
late  in  the  evening,  delighted  with  all  they  had  seen. 

On  the  following  morning  at  break  of  day,  the  shore  was 
thronged  with  the  natives ;  some  swam  off  to  the  ships,  others 
came  in  light  barks  which  they  called  canoes,  formed  of  a 
single  tree,  hollowed,  and  capable  of  holding  from  one  man  to 
the  number  of  forty  or  fifty.  These  they  managed  dexterously 
with  paddles,  and,  if  overturned,  swam  about  in  the  water  with 
perfect  unconcern,  as  if  in  their  natural  element,  righting  their 
canoes  with  great  facility,  and  baling  them  with  calabashes.* 

They  were  eager  to  procure  more  toys  and  trinkets,  not, 
apparently,  from  any  idea  of  their  intrinsic  value,  but  because 
everything  from  the  hands  of  the  strangers  possessed  a  super¬ 
natural  virtue  in  their  eyes,  as  having  been  brought  from 
heaven ;  they  even  picked  up  fragments  of  glass  and  earthen¬ 
ware  as  valuable  prizes.  They  had  but  few  objects  to  offer  in 
return,  except  parrots,  of  which  great  numbers  were  domesti¬ 
cated  among  them,  and  cotton  yarn,  of  winch  they  had  abun¬ 
dance,  and  would  exchange  large  balls  of  five  and  twenty 
pounds’  weight  for  the  merest  trifle.  They  brought  also  cakes 
of  a  kind  of  bread  called  cassava,  which  constituted  a  principal 
part  of  their  food,  and  was  afterward  an  important  article  of 
provisions  with  the  Spaniards.  It  was  formed  from  a  great 
root  called  yuca,  which  they  cultivated  in  fields.  This  they  cut 
into  small  morsels,  which  they  grated  or  scraped,  and  strained 
in  a  press,  making  a  broad  thin  cake,  which  was  afterward 
dried  hard,  and  would  keep  for  a  long  time,  being  steeped  in 


*  The  calabashes  of  the  Indians,  which  served  the  purposes  of  glass  and  earthen¬ 
ware,  supplying  them  with  all  sorts  of  domestic  utensils,  were  produced  oa  stately 
trees  of  the  size  of  elms. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


113 


■water  when  eaten.  It  was  insipid,  but  nourishing,  though  the 
water  strained  from  it  in  the  preparation  was  a  deadly  poison. 
There  was  another  kind  of  yuea  destitute  of  this  poisonous 
quality  which  was  eaten  in  the  root,  either  boiled  or  roasted.* 

The  avarice  of  the  discoverers  was  quickly  excited  by  the 
sight  of  small  ornaments  of  gold,  worn  by  some  of  the  natives 
in  their  noses.  These  the  latter  gladly  exchanged  for  glass 
beads  and  hawks’  bells;  and  both  parties  exulted  in  the  bar¬ 
gain,  no  doubt  admiring  each  other’s  simplicity.  As  gold, 
however,  was  an  object  of  royal  monopoly  in  all  enterprises  of 
discovery,  Columbus  forbade  any  traffic  in  it  without  his  ex¬ 
press  sanction ;  and  he  put  the  same  prohibition  on  the  traffic 
for  cotton,  reserving  to  the  crown  all  trade  for  it,  wherever  it 
should  be  found  in  any  quantity. 

He  inquired  of  the  natives  where  this  gold  was  procured. 
They  answered  him  by  signs,  pointing  to  the  south,  where,  he 
understood  them,  dwelt  a  king  of  such  wealth  that  he  was 
served  in  vessels  of  wrought  gold.  He  understood,  also,  that 
there  was  land  to  the  south,  the  south-west,  and  the  north¬ 
west,  and  that  the  people  from  the  last  mentioned  quarter 
frequently  proceeded  to  the  south-west  in  quest  of  gold  and 
precious  stones,  making  in  their  way  descents  upon  the  islands, 
and  carrying  off  the  inhabitants.  Several  of  the  natives  showed 
him  scars  of  wounds  received  in  battles  with  these  invaders. 
It  is  evident  that  a  great  part  of  this  fancied  intelligence  was 
self-delusion  on  the  part  of  Columbus ;  for  he  was  under  a  spell 
of  the  imagination,  which  gave  its  own  shapes  and  colors  to 
every  object.  He  was  persuaded  that  he  had  arrived  among 
the  islands  described  by  Marco  Polo  as  lying  opposite  Cathay, 
in  the  Chinese  sea,  and  he  construed  everything  to  accord  with 
the  account  given  of  those  opulent  regions.  Thus  the  enemies 
which  the  natives  spoke  of  as  coming  from  the  north-west,  he 
concluded  to  be  the  people  of  the  main-land  of  Asia,  the  sub¬ 
jects  of  the  great  Khan  of  Tartary,  who  were  represented  by 
the  Venetian  traveller  as  accustomed  to  make  war  upon  the 
islands,  and  to  enslave  their  inhabitants.  The  country  to  the 
south,  abounding  in  gold,  could  be  no  other  than  the  famous 
island  of  Cipango ;  and  the  king  who  was  served  out  of  vessels 
of  gold  must  be  the  monarch  whose  magnificent  city  and 
gorgeous  palace,  covered  with  plates  of  gold,  had  been  extolled 
in  such  splendid  terms  by  Marco  Polo. 


*  Acosta,  Hist.  Ind.,  lib.  iv.  cap.  17. 


114 


LIFE  OF  CnniSTOPUER  COLUMBUS. 


The  island  where  Columbus  had  thus,  for  the  first  time,  set 
his  foot  upon  the  New  World,  was  called  by  the  natives 
Guanahane.  It  still  retains  the  name  of  San  Salvador,  which 
he  gave  to  it,  though  called  by  the  English  Cat  Island.*  The 
light  which  he  had  seen  the  evening  previous  to  his  making 
land,  may  have  been  on  Watling’s  Island,  which  lies  a  few 
leagues  to  the  east.  San  Salvador  is  one  of  the  great  cluster  of 
the  Lucayos,  or  Bahama  Islands,  which  stretch  south-east  and 
north-west,  from  the  coast  of  Florida  to  Hispaniola,  covering 
the  northern  coast  of  Cuba. 

On  the  morning  of  the  14th  of  October  the  admiral  set  off  at 
daybreak  with  the  boats  of  the  ships  to  reconnoitre  the  island, 
directing  his  course  to  the  north-east.  The  coast  was  sur¬ 
rounded  by  a  reef  of  rocks,  within  which  there  was  depth  of 
water  and  sufficient  harbor  to  receive  all  the  ships  in  Christen¬ 
dom.  The  entrance  was  very  narrow;  within  there  were 
several  sand-banks,  but  the  water  was  as  still  as  in  a  pool.f 

The  island  appeared  throughout  to  be  well  wooded,  with 
streams  of  water,  and  a  large  lake  in  the  centre.  As  the  boats 
proceeded,  they  passed  two  or  three  villages,  the  inhabitants  of 
which,  men  as  well  as  women,  ran  to  the  shores,  throwing 
themselves  on  the  ground,  lifting  up  their  hands  and  eyes, 
either  giving  thanks  to  heaven,  or  worshipping  the  Spaniards 
as  supernatural  beings.  They  ran  along  parallel  to  the  boats, 
calling  after  the  Spaniards,  and  inviting  them  by  signs  to  land, 
offering  them  various  fruits  and  vessels  of  water.  Finding, 
however,  that  the  boats  continued  on  their  course,  many  threw 
themselves  into  the  sea  and  swam  after  them,  and  others  fol¬ 
lowed  in  canoes.  The  admiral  received  them  all  with  kind¬ 
ness,  giving  them  glass  beads  and  other  trifles,  which  were 
received  with  transport  as  celestial  presents,  for  the  invariable 
idea  of  the  savages  was,  that  the  white  men  had  come  from  the 
skies. 

In  this  way  they  pursued  their  course,  until  they  came  to  a 
small  peninsula,  which  with  two  or  three  days’  labor  might  be 
separated  from  the  main-land  and  surrounded  with  water,  and 
was  therefore  specified  by  Columbus  as  an  excellent  situation 
for  a  fortress.  On  this  were  six  Indian  cabins,  surrounded  by 
groves  and  gardens  as  beautiful  as  those  of  Castile.  The  sailors 


*  Some  dispute  having  recently  arisen  as  to  the  island  on  which  Columbus  first 
landed,  the  reader  is  referred  for  a  discussion  of  this  question  to  the  illustrations 
of  the  work,  article  “  First  Landing  of  Columbus.” 
t  Primer  Viage  de  Colon.  Navarrete,  tom.  i. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLHMBVS. 


115 


being  wearied  with  rowing,  and  the  island  not  appearing  to  the 
admiral  of  sufficient  importance  to  induce  colonization,  he 
returned  to  the  ships,  taking  seven  of  the  natives  with  him, 
that  they  might  acquire  the  Spanish  language  and  serve  as 
interpreters. 

Having  taken  in  a  supply  of  wood  and  water,  they  left  the 
island  of  San  Salvador  the  same  evening,  the  admiral  being 
impatient  to  arrive  at  the  wealthy  country  to  the  south,  which 
he  flattered  himself  would  prove  the  famous  island  of  Cipango. 


CHAPTER  II. 

CRUISE  AMONG  THE  BAHAMA  ISLANDS. 

[1492.] 

On  leaving  San  Salvador  Columbus  was  at  a  loss  which  way 
to  direct  his  course.  A  great  number  of  islands,  green  and 
level  and  fertile,  invited  him  in  different  directions.  The 
Indians  on  board  of  his  vessel  intimated  by  signs  that  they 
were  innumerable,  well  peopled,  and  at  war  with  one  another. 
They  mentioned  the  names  of  above  a  hundred.  Columbus 
now  had  no  longer  a  doubt  that  he  was  among  the  islands 
described  by  Marco  Polo  as  studding  the  vast  sea  of  Chin,  or 
China,  and  lying  at  a  great  distance  from  the  main-land. 
These,  according  to  the  Venetian,  amounted  to  between  seven 
and  eight  thousand,  and  abounded  with  drugs  and  spices  and 
odoriferous  trees,  together  with  gold  and  silver  and  many  other 
precious  objects  of  commerce.* 

Animated  by  the  idea  of  exploring  this  opulent  archipelago, 
he  selected  the  largest  island  in  sight  for  his  next  visit;  it 
appeared  to  be  about  five  leagues’  distance,  and  he  understood 
from  his  Indians  that  the  natives  were  richer  than  those  of  San 
Salvador,  wearing  bracelets  and  anklets  and  other  ornaments 
of  massive  gold. 

The  night  coming  on,  Columbus  ordered  that  the  ships  should 
he  to,  as  the  navigation  was  difficult  and  dangerous  among 
these  unknown  islands,  and  he  feared  to  venture  upon  a  strange 


*  Marco  Polo,  book  iii.  chap.  4;  Eng.  translation  by  W.  Marsden. 


116 


LIFE  OF  CnRLSTO PITER  COLUMBUS. 


coast  in  the  dark.  In  the  morning  they  again  made  sail,  but 
meeting  with  counter-currents  it  was  not  until  sunset  that  they 
anchored  at  the  island.  The  next  morning  (lGth)  they  went  on 
shore,  and  Columbus  took  solemn  possession,  giving  the  island 
the  name  of  Santa  Maria  de  la  Concepcion.  The  same  scene 
occurred  with  the  inhabitants  as  with  those  of  San  Salvador. 
They  manifested  the  same  astonishment  and  awe,  the  same 
gentleness  and  simplicity,  and  the  same  nakedness  and  absence 
of  all  wealth.  Columbus  looked  in  vain  for  bracelets  and 
anklets  of  gold,  or  for  any  other  precious  articles :  they  had 
been  either  fictions  of  his  Indian  guides,  or  his  own  misinter¬ 
pretations. 

Keturning  on  hoard,  he  prepared  to  make  sail,  when  one  of 
the  Indians  of  San  Salvador,  who  was  on  board  of  the  Nina, 
plunged  into  the  sea,  and  swam  to  a  large  canoe  filled  with 
natives.  The  boat  of  the  caravel  put  off  in  pursuit,  but  the 
Indians  managed  their  light  hark  with  too  much  velocity  to 
be  overtaken,  and,  reaching  the  land,  fled  to  the  woods.  The 
sailors  took  the  canoe  as  a  prize,  and  returned  on  board  the 
caravel.  Shortly  afterward  a  small  canoe  approached  one  of 
the  ships  from  a  different  part  of  the  island,  with  a  single  Indian 
on  board,  who  came  to  offer  a  ball  of  cotton  in  exchange  for 
hawks’  bells.  As  he  paused  when  close  to  the  vessel,  and  feared 
to  enter,  several  sailors  threw  themselves  into  the  sea  and  took 
him  prisoner. 

Columbus  having  seen  all  that  passed  from  his  station  on  the 
high  poop  of  the  vessel,  ordered  the  captive  to  be  brought  to 
him;  he  came  trembling  with  fear,  and  humbly  offered  his  ball 
of  cotton  as  a  gift.  The  admiral  received  him  with  the  utmost 
benignity,  and  declining  his  offering,  put  a  colored  cap  upon 
his  head,  strings  of  green  beads  around  his  arms,  and  hawks’ 
bells  in  his  ears,  then  ordering  him  and  his  ball  of  cotton  to  he 
replaced  in  the  canoe,  dismissed  him,  astonished  and  overjoyed. 
Tie  ordered  that  the  canoe,  also,  which  had  been  seized  and  was 
fastened  to  the  Nina,  should  be  cast  loose,  to  be  regained  by  its 
proprietors.  When  the  Indian  reached  the  shore,  his  country¬ 
men  thronged  round  him,  examining  and  admiring  his  finery, 
and  listening  to  his  account  of  the  kind  treatment  he  experi¬ 
enced. 

Such  were  the  gentle  and  sage  precautions  continually  taken 
by  Columbus  to  impress  the  natives  favorably.  Another  in¬ 
stance  of  the  kind  occurred  after  leaving  the  island  of  Concep^ 
cion,  when  the  caravels  stood  for  the  larger  island,  several 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


117 


leagues  to  the  west.  Midway  between  the  two  islands  they 
overtook  a  single  Indian  in  a  canoe.  He  had  a  mere  morsel  of 
cassava  bread  and  a  calabash  of  water  for  sea-stores,  and  a 
little  red  paint,  like  dragons’  blood,  for  personal  decoration 
when  he  should  land.  A  string  of  glass  beads,  such  as  had  been 
given  to  the  natives  of  San  Salvador,  showed  that  he  had  come 
thence,  and  was  probably  passing  from  island  to  island,  to  give 
notice  of  the  ships.  Columbus  admired  the  hardihood  of  this 
simple  navigator,  making  such  an  extensive  voyage  in  so  frail 
a  bark.  As  the  island  was  still  distant,  he  ordered  that  both 
the  Indian  and  his  canoe  should  be  taken  on  board,  where  he 
treated  him  with  the  greatest  kindness,  giving  him  bread  and 
honey  to  eat,  and  wine  to  drink.  The  weather  being  very  calm, 
they  did  not  reach  the  island  until  too  dark  to  anchor,  through 
fear  of  cutting  their  cables  with  rocks.  The  sea  about  these 
islands  was  so  transparent  that  in  the  daytime  they  could  see 
the  bottom  and  choose  their  ground ;  and  so  deep,  that  at  two 
gun-shot  distance  there  was  no  anchorage.  Hoisting  out  the 
canoe  of  their  Indian  voyager,  therefore,  and  restoring  to  him 
all  his  effects,  they  sent  him  joyfully  ashore,  to  prepare  the 
natives  for  their  arrival,  while  the  ships  lay  to  until  morning. 

This  kindness  had  the  desired  effect.  The  natives  surrounded 
the  ships  in  their  canoes  during  the  night,  bringing  fruits  and 
roots,  and  the  pure  water  of  their  springs.  Columbus  dis¬ 
tributed  trifling  presents  among  them,  and  to  those  who  came 
on  board  he  gave  sugar  and  honey. 

Landing  the  next  morning,  he  gave  to  this  island  the  name 
of  Fernandina,  in  honor  of  the  king ;  it  is  the  same  at  present 
called  Exuma.  The  inhabitants  were  similar  in  every  respect 
to  those  of  the  preceding  islands,  excepting  that  they  appeared 
more  ingenious  and  intelligent.  Some  of  the  women  wore 
mantels  and  aprons  of  cotton,  but  for  the  most  part  they  were 
entirely  naked.  Their  habitations  were  constructed  in  the  form 
of  a  pavilion  or  high  circular  tent,  of  branches  of  trees,  of 
reeds,  and  palm  leaves.  They  were  kept  very  clean  and  neat, 
and  sheltered  under  spreading  trees.  For  beds  they  had  nets 
of  cotton  extended  from  two  posts,  which  they  called  hamacs , 
a  name  since  in  universal  use  among  seamen. 

In  endeavoring  to  circumnavigate  the  island,  Columbus  found, 
within  two  leagues  of  the  northwest  cape,  a  noble  harbor,  suf¬ 
ficient  to  hold  a  hundred  ships,  with  two  entrances  formed  by 
an  island  which  lay  in  the  mouth  of  it.  Here,  while  the  men 
landed  with  the  casks  in  search  of  water,  he  reposed  under  the 


118 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


shade  of  the  groves,  which  he  says  were  more  beautiful  than 
any  he  had  ever  beheld;  “the  country  was  as  fresh  and  green 
as  in  the  month  of  May  in  Andalusia ;  the  trees,  the  fruits,  the 
herbs,  the  flowers,  the  very  stones  for  the  most  part,  as  differ¬ 
ent  from  those  of  Spain  as  night  from  day.”  *  The  inhabitants 
gave  the  same  proofs  as  the  other  islanders,  of  being  totally  un¬ 
accustomed  to  the  sight  of  civilized  man.  They  regarded  the 
Spaniards  with  awe  and  admiration,  approached  them  with 
propitiatory  offerings  of  whatever  their  poverty,  or  rather 
their  simple  and  natural  mode  of  life,  afforded ;  the  fruits  ot 
their  fields  and  groves,  the  cotton,  which  was  their  article  of 
greatest  value,  and  their  domesticated  parrots.  They  took 
those  who  were  in  search  of  water  to  the  coolest  springs,  the 
sweetest  and  freshest  runs,  filling  their  casks,  and  rolling  them 
to  the  boats ;  thus  seeking  in  every  way  to  gratify  their  celestial 
visitors. 

However  pleasing  this  state  of  primeval  poverty  might?  be  to 
the  imagination  of  a  poet,  it  was  a  source  of  continual  disap¬ 
pointment  to  the  Spaniards,  whose  avarice  had  been  whetted  to 
the  quick  by  scanty  specimens  of  gold,  and  by  the  informatioi] 
of  golden  islands  continually  given  by  the  Indians, 

Leaving  Femandina,  on  the  19th  of  October,  they  steered  to 
the  south-east  in  quest  of  an  island  called  Saometo,  where 
Columbus  understood,  from  the  signs  of  the  guides,  there  was  a 
mine  of  gold,  and  a  king,  the  sovereign  of  all  the  surrounding 
islands,  who  dwelt  in  a  large  city  and  possessed  great  treasures, 
wearing  rich  clothing  and  jewels  of  gold.  They  found  the 
island,  but  neither  the  monarch  nor  the  mine ;  either  Columbia 
had  misunderstood  the  natives,  or  they,  measuring  things  by 
their  own  poverty,  had  exaggerated  the  paltry  state  and  trivirl 
ornaments  of  some  savage  chieftain.  Delightful  as  the  other 
islands  had  appeared,  Columbus  declared  that  this  surpassed 
them  all.  Like  those  it  was  covered  with  trees  and  shrubs  ano 
herbs  of  unknown  kind.  The  climate  had  the  same  soft  tem¬ 
perature  ;  the  air  was  delicate  and  balmy ;  the  land  was  higher, 
with  a  fine  verdant  hill ;  the  coast  of  a  fine  sand,  gently  laved 
by  transparent  billows. 

At  the  south-west  end  of  the  island  he  found  fine  lakes  of 
fresh  water,  overhung  with  groves,  and  surrounded  by  banks 
covered  with  herbage.  Here  he  ordered  all  the  casks  of  the 
ships  to  be  filled.  “Here  are  large  lakes,”  says  he,  in  his  jour< 


*  Primer  Vjage  de  Colon.  Navarrete,  Jib.  i. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


119 


nal,  “and  the  groves  about  them  are  marvellous,  and  here  and 
in  all  the  island  everything  is  green,  as  in  April  in  Andalusia. 
The  singing  of  the  birds  is  such,  that  it  seems  as  if  one  would 
never  desire  to  depart  hence.  There  are  flocks  of  parrots  which 
obscure  the  sun,  and  other  birds,  large  and  small,  of  so  many 
kinds  all  different  from  ours,  that  it  is  wonderful ;  and  besides 
there  are  trees  of  a  thousand  species,  each  having  its  particular 
fruit  and  all  of  marvellous  flavor,  so  that  I  am  in  the  greatest 
trouble  in  the  world  not  to  know  them,  for  I  am  very  certain 
that  they  are  each  of  great  value.  I  shall  bring  home  some  of 
them  as  specimens,  and  also  some  of  the  herbs.”  To  this  beauti¬ 
ful  island  he  gave  the  name  of  his  royal  patroness,  Isabella ;  it 
is  the  same  at  present  called  Isla  Larga  and  Exumeta.  Colum¬ 
bus  was  intent  on  discovering  the  drugs  and  spices  of  the  East, 
and  on  approaching  this  island,  had  fancied  he  perceived  in  the 
air  the  spicy  odors  said  to  be  wafted  from  the  islands  of  the  In¬ 
dian  seas.  “As  I  arrived  at  this  cape,”  says  he,  “there  came 
thence  a  fragrance  so  good  and  soft  of  the  flowers  or  trees  of 
the  land,  that  it  was  the  sweetest  thing  in  the  world.  I  believe 
there  are  here  many  herbs  and  trees  which  would  be  of  great 
price  in  Spain  for  tinctures,  medicines,  and  spices,  but  I  know 
nothing  of  them,  which  gives  me  great  concern.  ”  * 

The  fish,  which  abounded  in  these  seas,  partook  of  the  novel¬ 
ty  which  characterized  most  of  the  objects  in  this  new  world. 
They  rivalled  the  birds  in  tropical  brilliancy  of  color,  the  scales 
of  some  of  them  glancing  back  the  rays  of  light  like  precious 
stones ;  as  they  sported  about  the  ships,  they  flashed  gleams  of 
gold  and  silver  through  the  clear  waves ;  and  the  dolphins, 
taken  out  of  their  element,  delighted  the  eye  with  the  changes 
of  colors  ascribed  in  fable  to  the  chameleon. 

No  animals  were  seen  in  these  islands,  excepting  a  species  of 
dog  which  never  barked,  a  kind  of  coney  or  rabbit  called  “  utia” 
by  the  natives,  together  with  numerous  lizards  and  guanas. 
The  last  were  regarded  with  disgust  and  horror  by  the  Span¬ 
iards,  supposing  them  to  be  fierce  and  noxious  serpents ;  but 
they  were  found  afterward  to  be  perfectly  harmless,  and  their 
flesh  to  be  esteemed  a  great  delicacy  by  the  Indians. 

For  several  days  Columbus  hovered  about  this  island,  seek¬ 
ing  in  vain  to  find  its  imaginary  monarch,  or  to  establish  a 
communication  with  him,  until,  at  length,  he  reluctantly  be¬ 
came  convinced  of  his  error.  No  sooner,  however,  did  one 


*  Primer  Viage  de  Colon.  Navarrete,  cap.  1, 


120 


LIFE  OF  CHRIS T OTHER  COLUMBUS. 


delusion  fade  away ,  than  another  succeeded.  In  reply  to  the 
continual  inquiries  made  by  the  Spaniards,  after  the  source 
whence  they  procured  their  gold,  the  natives  uniformly  pointed 
to  the  south.  Columbus  now  began  to  hear  of  an  island  in  that 
direction,  called  Cuba,  but  all  that  he  could  collect  concerning 
it  from  the  signs  of  the  natives  was  colored  by  his  imagination 
He  understood  it  to  be  of  great  extent,  abounding  in  gold,  and 
pearls,  and  spices,  and  carrying  on  an  extensive  commerce  in 
those  precious  articles ;  and  that  large  merchant  ships  came  to 
trade  with  its  inhabitants. 

Comparing  these  misinterpreted  accounts  with  the  coast  of 
Asia,  as  laid  down  on  his  map,  after  the  descriptions  of  Marco 
Polo,  he  concluded  that  this  island  must  be  Cipango,  and  the 
merchant  ships  mentioned  must  be  those  of  the  Grand  Khan, 
who  maintained  an  extensive  commerce  in  these  seas.  He 
formed  his  plan  accordingly,  determining  to  sail  immediately 
for  this  island,  and  make  himself  acquainted  with  its  ports, 
cities,  and  productions,  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  rela¬ 
tions  of  traffic.  He  would  then  seek  another  great  island  called 
Bohio,  of  which  the  natives  gave  likewise  marvellous  accounts. 
His  sojourn  in  those  islands  would  depend  upon  the  quantities 
of  gold,  spices,  precious  stones,  and  other  objects  of  Oriental 
trade  which  he  should  find  there.  After  this  he  would  proceed 
to  the  main-land  of  India,  which  must  be  within  ten  days’ 
sail,  seek  the  city  Quinsai,  which,  according  to  Marco  Polo, 
was  one  of  the  most  magnificent  capitals  in  the  world ;  he 
would  there  deliver  in  person  the  letters  of  the  Castilian  sover¬ 
eigns  to  the  Grand  Khan,  and,  when  he  received  his  reply, 
return  triumphantly  to  Spain  with  this  document,  to  prove 
that  he  had  accomplished  the  great  object  of  his  voyage.*  Such 
was  the  splendid  scheme  with  which  Columbus  fed  his  imagina¬ 
tion,  when  about  to  leave  the  Bahamas  in  quest  of  the  island  of 
Cuba. 

>  — ■  ■  -  .  ■"  ■  - - -  ■  - - -  —  . .  .  -  . .  ■  ■  >  —  -  — — ■ 


*  Journal  of  Columbus.  Navarrete,  tom.  i. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


121 


CHAPTEK  in. 

DISCOVERY  AND  COASTING  OF  CUBA. 

[1492.] 

For  several  days  the  departure  of  Columbus  was  delayed  b j 
contrary  winds  and  calms,  attended  by  heavy  showers,  which 
last  had  prevailed,  more  or  less,  since  his  arrival  among  the 
islands.  It  was  the  season  of  the  autumnal  rains,  which  in 
those  torrid  climates  succeed  the  parching  heats  of  summer, 
commencing  about  the  decrease  of  the  August  moon,  and  last¬ 
ing  until  the  month  of  November. 

At  length,  at  midnight,  October  24th,  he  set  sail  from  the 
island  of  Isabella,  but  was  nearly  becalmed  until  midday ;  a 
gentle  wind  then  sprang  up,  and,  as  he  observes,  began  to  blow 
most  amorously.  Every  sail  was  spread,  and  he  stood  toward 
the  west-south- west,  the  direction  in  which  he  was  told  the  land 
of  Cuba  lay  from  Isabella.  After  three  days’  navigation,  in  the 
course  of  which  he  touched  at  a  group  of  seven  or  eight  small 
islands,  which  he  called  Islas  de  Arena,  supposed  to  be  the 
present  Mucaras  islands,  and  having  crossed  the  Bahama  bank 
and  channel,  he  arrived,  on  the  morning  of  the  28th  of  October, 
in  sight  of  Cuba.  The  part  which  he  first  discovered  is  supposed 
to  be  the  coast  to  the  west  of  Neu vitas  del  Principe. 

As  he  approached  this  noble  island,  he  was  struck  with  its 
magnitude,  and  the  grandeur  of  its  features ;  its  high  and  airy 
mountains,  which  reminded  him  of  those  of  Sicily ;  its  fertile 
valleys,  and  long  sweeping  plains  watered  by  noble  rivers ;  its 
stately  forests ;  its  bold  promontories  and  stretching  headlands, 
which  melted  away  into  the  remotest  distance.  He  anchored 
in  a  beautiful  river,  of  transparent  clearness,  free  from  rocks 
and  shoals,  its  banks  overhung  with  trees.  Here,  landing,  and 
taking  possession  of  the  island,  he  gave  it  the  name  of  Juana, 
in  honor  of  Prince  Juan,  and  to  the  river  the  name  of  San  Sal¬ 
vador. 

On  the  arrival  of  the  ships,  two  canoes  put  off  from  the  shore, 
but  fled  on  seeing  the  boat  approach  to  sound  the  river  for  an¬ 
chorage.  The  admiral  visited  two  cabins  abandoned  by  their 
inhabitants.  They  contained  but  a  few  nets  made  of  the  fibres 
of  the  palm-tree,  hooks  and  harpoons  of  bone,  and  some  other 


122 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


fishing  implements,  and  one  of  the  kind  of  dogs  he  had  met 
with  on  the  smaller  islands,  which  never  bark.  He  ordered  that 
nothing  should  he  taken  away  or  deranged. 

Returning  to  his  boat,  he  proceeded  for  some  distance  up  the 
river,  more  and  more  enchanted  with  the  beauty  of  the  coun¬ 
try.  The  banks  were  covered  with  high  and  wide- spreading 
trees ;  some  bearing  fruits,  others  flowers,  while  in  some  both 
fruit  and  flower  were  mingled,  bespeaking  a  perpetual  round  of 
fertility;  among  them  were  many  palms,  but  different  from 
those  of  Spain  and  Africa ;  with  the  great  leaves  of  these  the 
natives  thatched  their  cabins. 

The  continual  eulogies  made  by  Columbus  on  the  beauty  of 
the  country  were  warranted  by  the  kind  of  scenery  he  was  be¬ 
holding.  There  is  a  wonderful  splendor,  variety,  and  luxuri¬ 
ance  in  the  vegetation  of  those  quick  and  ardent  climates.  The 
verdure  of  the  groves  and  the  colors  of  the  flowers  and  blos¬ 
soms  derive  a  vividness  from  the  transparent  purity  of  the  air 
and  the  deep  serenity  of  the  azure  heavens.  The  forests,  too, 
are  full  of  life,  swarming  with  birds  of  brilliant  plumage. 
Painted  varieties  of  parrots  and  woodpeckers  create  a  glitter 
amid  the  verdure  of  the  grove,  and  humming-birds  rove  from 
flower  to  flower,  resembling,  as  has  well  been  said,  animated 
particles  of  a  rainbow.  The  scarlet  flamingoes,  too,  seen  some¬ 
times  through  an  opening  of  a  forest  in  a  distant  savanna,  have 
the  appearance  of  soldiers  drawn  up  in  battalion,  with  an  ad¬ 
vanced  scout  on  the  alert,  to  give  notice  of  approaching  danger. 
Nor  is  the  least  beautiful  part  of  animated  nature  the  various 
tribes  of  insects  peopling  every  plant,  and  displaying  brilliant 
coats  of  mail,  which  sparkle  like  precious  gems.* 

Such  is  the  splendor  of  animal  and  vegetable  creation  in 
these  tropical  climates,  where  an  ardent  sun  imparts  its  own 
lustre  to  every  object,  and  quickens  nature  into  exuberant 
fecundity.  The  birds,  in  general,  are  not  remarkable  for  their 
notes,  for  it  has  been  observed  that  in  the  feathered  race 
sweetness  of  song  rarely  accompanies  brilliancy  of  plumage. 
Columbus  remarks,  however,  that  there  were  various  kinds 
which  sang  sweetly  among  the  trees,  and  he  frequently  de¬ 
ceived  himself  in  fancying  that  he  heard  the  voice  of  the 
nightingale,  a  bird  unknown  in  these  countries.  He  was,  in 
fact,  in  a  mood  to  see  everything  through  a  favoring  medium. 


*  The  ladies  of  Havana,  on  gala  occasions,  wear  in  their  hair  numbers  of  those  in¬ 
sects.  which  have  a  brilliancy  equal  to  rubies,  sapphires,  or  diamonds. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


123 


His  heart  was  full  to  overflowing,  for  he  was  enjoying  the  ful¬ 
filment  of  his  hopes,  and  the  hard-earned  but  glorious  reward 
of  his  toils  and  perils.  Everything  round  him  was  beheld 
with  the  enamored  and  exulting  eye  of  a  discoverer,  where 
triumph  mingles  with  admiration ;  and  it  is  difficult  to  conceive 
the  rapturous  state  of  his  feelings,  while  thus  exploring  the 
charms  of  a  virgin  world,  won  by  his  enterprise  and  valor. 

From  his  continual  remarks  on  the  beauty  of  scenery,  and 
from  his  evident  delight  in  rural  sounds  and  objects,  he  ap¬ 
pears  to  have  been  extremely  open  to  those  happy  influences, 
exercised  over  some  spirits,  by  the  graces  and  wonders  of 
nature.  He  gives  utterance  to  these  feelings  with  charac¬ 
teristic  enthusiasm,  and  at  the  same  time  with  the  artlessness 
and  simplicity  of  diction  of  a  child.  When  speaking  of  some 
lovely  scene  among  the  groves,  or  along  the  flowery  shores  of 
these  favored  islands,  he  says,  ‘  ‘  one  could  live  there  for  ever.  ” 
Cuba  broke  upon  him  like  an  elysium.  “It  is  the  most  beau- 
tiral  island,”  he  says,  “  that  eyes  ever  beheld,  full  of  excellent 
ports  and  profound  rivers.”  The  climate  was  more  temperate 
here  than  in  the  other  islands,  the  nights  being  neither  hot  nor 
cold,  while  the  birds  and  crickets  sang  all  night  long.  Indeed 
there  is  a  beauty  in  a  tropical  night,  in  the  depth  of  the  dark 
blue  sky,  the  lambent  purity  of  the  stars,  and  the  resplendent 
clearness  of  the  moon,  that  spreads  over  the  rich  landscape  and 
the  balmy  groves  a  charm  more  captivating  than  the  splendor 
of  the  day. 

In  the  sweet  smell  of  the  woods  and  the  odor  of  the  flowers 
Columbus  fancied  he  perceived  the  fragrance  of  oriental 
spices;  and  along  the  shores  he  found  shells  of  the  kind  of 
oyster  which  produces  pearls.  From  the  grass  growing  to  the 
very  edge  of  the  water,  he  inferred  the  peacefulness  of  the 
ocean  which  bathes  these  islands,  never  lashing  the  shores 
with  angry  surges.  Ever  since  his  arrival  among  these  Antil¬ 
les  he  had  experienced  nothing  but  soft  and  gentle  weather, 
and  he  concluded  that  a  perpetual  serenity  reigned  over  these 
happy  seas.  He  was  little  suspicious  of  the  occasional  bursts 
of  fury  to  which  they  are  liable.  Charlevoix,  speaking  from 
actual  observation,  remarks,  “  The  sea  of  those  islands  is  com¬ 
monly  more  tranquil  than  ours ;  but,  like  certain  people  who 
are  excited  with  difficulty,  and  whose  transports  of  passion  are 
as  violent  as  they  are  i  are,  sc  when  the  sea  becomes  irritated, 
it  is  terrible.  It  breaxs  all  bounds,  overflow  the  country, 
sweeps  away  all  things  that  oppose  it,  and  leaves  frightful 


124 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


ravages  behind,  to  mark  the  extent  of  its  inundations.  It  is 
after  these  tempests,  known  by  the  name  of  hurricanes,  that 
the  shores  are  covered  with  marine  shells,  which  greatly  sur¬ 
pass  in  lustre  and  beauty  those  of  the  European  seas.”  *  It  is  a 
singular  fact,  however,  that  the  hurricanes,  which  almost  an¬ 
nually  devastate  the  Bahamas,  and  other  islands  in  the  immedi¬ 
ate  vicinity  of  Cuba,  have  been  seldom  known  to  extend  their 
influence  to  this  favored  land.  It  would  seem  as  if  the  very 
elements  were  charmed  into  gentleness  as  they  approached  it. 

In  a  kind  of  riot  of  the  imagination,  Columbus  finds  at  every 
step  something  to  corroborate  the  information  he  had  received, 
or  fancied  he  had  received,  from  the  natives.  He  had  conclu¬ 
sive  proofs,  as  he  thought,  that  Cuba  possessed  mines  of  gold, 
and  groves  of  spices,  and  that  its  shores  abounded  with  pearls. 
He  no  longer  doubted  that  it  was  the  island  of  Cipango,  and 
weighing  anchor,  coasted  along  westward,  in  which  direction, 
according  to  the  signs  of  his  interpreters,  the  magnificent  city 
of  its  king  was  situated.  In  the  course  of  his  voyage  he  landed 
occasionally,  and  visited  several  villages ;  particularly  one  on 
the  banks  of  a  large  river,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  Rio  de 
los  Mares,  f  The  houses  were  neatly  built  of  branches  of  palm- 
trees  in  the  shape  of  pavilions ;  not  laid  out  in  regular  streets, 
but  scattered  here  and  there,  among  the  groves,  and  under  the 
shade  of  broad  spreading  trees,  like  tents  in  a  camp ;  as  is  still 
the  case  in  many  of  the  Spanish  settlements,  and  in  the  vih 
lages  in  the  interior  of  Cuba.  The  inhabitants  fled  to  the 
mountains,  or  hid  themselves  in  the  woods.  Columbus  care¬ 
fully  notea  the  architecture  and  furniture  of  their  dwellings. 
The  houses  were  better  built  than  those  he  had  hitherto  seen, 
and  were  kept  extremely  clean.  He  found  in  them  rude 
statues,  and  wooden  masks,  carved  with  considerable  inge¬ 
nuity.  All  these  were  indications  of  more  art  and  civilization 
than  he  had  observed  in  the  smaller  islands,  and  he  supposed 
they  would  go  on  increasing  as  he  approached  terra  firma. 
Finding  in  all  the  cabins  implements  for  fishing,  he  concluded 
that  these  coasts  were  inhabited  merely  by  fishermen,  who  car¬ 
ried  their  fish  to  the  cities  in  the  interior.  He  thought  also  he 
had  found  the  skulls  of  cows,  which  proved  that  there  were 
cattle  in  the  island ;  though  these  are  supposed  to  have  been 
skulls  of  the  manati  or  sea-calf  found  on  this  coast. 


*  Charlevoix,  Hist.  St.  Domingo,  lib.  i.  p.  20.  Paris,  1730, 
t  Now  called  Savannah  la  Men 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


125 


After  standing  to  the  north-west  for  some  distance,  Colum¬ 
bus  came  in  sight  of  a  great  headland,  to  which,  from  the 
groves  with  which  it  was  covered,  he  gave  the  name  of  the 
Cape  of  Palms,  and  which  form  the  eastern  entrance  to  what 
is  now  known  as  Laguna  de  Moron.  Here  three  Indians,  na* 
tives  of  the  Island  of  Guanahani,  who  were  on  board  of  the 
Pinta,  informed  the  commander,  Martin  Alonzo  Pinzon,  that 
behind  the  cape  there  was  a  river,  whence  it  was  but  four  days’ 
journey  to  Cubanacan,  a  place  abounding  in  gold.  By  this 
they  designated  a  province  situated  in  the  centre  of  Cuba; 
nacan ,  in  their  language,  signifying  the  midst.  Pinzon,  how¬ 
ever,  had  studied  intently  the  map  of  Toscanelli,  and  had  im¬ 
bibed  from  Columbus  all  his  ideas  respecting  the  coast  of  Asia. 
He  concluded,  therefore,  that  the  Indians  were  talking  of 
Cublai  Khan,  the  Tartar  sovereign,  and  of  certain  parts  of  his 
dominions  described  by  Marco  Polo.*  He  understood  from 
them  that  Cuba  was  not  an  island,  but  terra  firma,  extending 
a  vast  distance  to  the  north,  and  that  the  king  who  reigned  in 
this  vicinity  was  at  war  with  the  Great  Khan. 

This  tissue  of  errors  and  misconceptions  he  immediately 
communicated  to  Columbus.  It  put  an  end  to  the  delusion 
in  which  the  admiral  had  hitherto  indulged,  that  this  was  the 
island  of  Cipango ;  but  it  substituted  another  no  less  agreeable. 
He  concluded  that  he  must  have  reached  the  main-land  of 
Asia,  or  as  he  termed  it,  India,  and  if  so,  he  could  not  be  any 
great  distance  from  Mangi  and  Cathay,  the  ultimate  destina¬ 
tion  of  his  voyage.  The  prince  in  question,  who  reigned  over 
this  neighboring  country,  must  be  some  oriental  potentate  of 
consequence ;  he  resolved,  therefore,  to  seek  the  river  beyond 
the  Cape  of  Palms,  and  dispatch  a  present  to  the  monarch,  with 
one  of  the  letters  of  recommendation  from  the  Castilian  sov¬ 
ereigns  ;  and  after  visiting  his  dominions  he  would  proceed  to 
the  capital  of  Cathay,  the  residence  of  the  Grand  Khan. 

Every  attempt  to  reach  the  river  in  question,  however, 
proved  ineffectual.  Cape  stretched  beyond  cape ;  there  was  no 
good  anchorage;  the  wind  became  contrary,  and  the  appear¬ 
ance  of  the  heavens  threatening  rough  weather,  he  put  back 
to  the  Eio  de  los  Mares. 

On  the  1st  of  November,  at  sunrise,  he  sent  the  boats  on 
shore  to  visit  several  houses,  but  the  inhabitants  fled  to  the 
woods.  He  supposed  that  they  must  mistake  his  armament 

r1  ■  - - —  - ' 


*  Las  Casas,  lib.  i.  cap.  44,  ms. 


126 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


i 


for  one  of  the  scouring  expeditions  sent  by  the  Grand  Khan  to 
make  prisoners  and  slaves.  He  sent  the  boat  on  shore  again  in 
the  afternoon,  with  an  Indian  interpreter,  who  was  instructed 
to  assure  the  people  of  the  peaceable  and  beneficent  intentions 
of  the  Spaniards,  and  that  they  had  no  connection  with  the 
G  rand  Khan.  After  the  Indian  had  proclaimed  this  from  the 
boat  to  the  savages  upon  the  beach,  part  of  it,  no  doubt,  to 
their  great  perplexity,  he  threw  himself  into  the  water  and 
swam  to  shore.  He  was  well  received  by  the  natives,  and  suc¬ 
ceeded  so  effectually  in  calming  their  fears,  that  before  evening 
there  were  more  than  sixteen  canoes  about  the  ships,  bringing 
cotton  yarn  and  other  simple  articles  of  traffic.  Columbus  for¬ 
bade  all  trading  for  anything  but  gold,  that  the  natives  might 
be  tempted  to  produce  the  real  riches  of  their  country.  They 
had  none  to  offer ;  all  were  destitute  of  ornaments  of  the  pre¬ 
cious  metals,  excepting  one,  who  wore  in  his  nose  a  piece  of 
wrought  silver.  Columbus  understood  this  man  to  say  that 
the  king  lived  about  the  distance  of  four  days’  journey  in  the 
interior;  that  many  messengers  had  been  dispatched  to  give 
him  tidings  of  the  arrival  of  the  strangers  upon  the  coast ;  and 
that  in  less  than  three  days’  time  messengers  might  be  expected 
from  him  in  return,  and  many  merchants  from  the  interior,  to 
trade  with  the  ships.  It  is  curious  to  observe  how  ingeniously 
the  imagination  of  Columbus  deceived  him  at  every  step,  and 
how  he  wove  everything  into  a  uniform  web  of  false  conclu¬ 
sions.  Poring  over  the  map  of  Toscanelli,  referring  to  the 
reckonings  of  his  voyage,  and  musing  on  the  misinterpreted 
words  of  the  Indians,  he  imagined  that  he  must  be  on  the  bor¬ 
ders  of  Cathay,  and  about  one  hundred  leagues  from  the  capi¬ 
tal  of  the  Grand  Khan.  Anxious  to  arrive  there,  and  to  delay 
as  little  as  possible  in  the  territories  of  an  inferior  prince,  he 
determined  not  to  await  the  arrival  of  the  messengers  and 
merchants,  but  to  dispatch  two  envoys  to  seek  the  neighboring 
monarch  at  his  residence. 

For  this  mission  he  chose  two  Spaniards,  Rodrigo  de  Jerez 
and  Luis  de  Torres;  the  latter  a  converted  Jew,  who  knew 
Hebrew  and  Chaldaic,  and  even  something  of  Arabic,  one  or 
other  of  which  Columbus  supposed  might  be  known  to  this 
oriental  prince.  Two  Indians  were  sent  with  them  as  guides, 
one  a  native  of  Guanahani,  and  the  other  an  inhabitant  of  the 
hamlet  on  the  bank  of  the  river.  The  ambassadors  were  fur¬ 
nished  with  strings  of  beads  and  other  trinkets  for  travelling 
expenses.  Instructions  were  given  them  to  inform  the  kins 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLTTMBVS.  121 

that  Columbus  had  been  sent  by  the  Castilian  sovereigns,  a 
bearer  of  letters  and  a  present,  which  he  was  to  deliver  per¬ 
sonally,  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  an  amicable  intercourse 
between  the  powers.  They  were  likewise  to  inform  themselves 
accurately  about  the  situation  and  distances  of  certain  pro¬ 
vinces,  ports,  and  rivers,  which  the  admiral  specified  by  name 
from  the  descriptions  which  he  had  of  the  coast  of  Asia.  They 
were  moreover  provided  with  specimens  of  spices  and  drugs, 
for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  whether  any  articles  of  the 
kind  abounded  in  the  country.  With  these  provisions  and  in¬ 
structions  the  ambassadors  departed,  six  days  being  allowed 
them  to  go  and  return.  Many,  at  the  present  day,  will  smile 
at  this  embassy  to  a  naked  savage  chieftain  in  the  interior  of 
Cuba,  in  mistake  for  an  Asiatic  monarch;  but  such  was  the 
singular  nature  of  this  voyage,  a  continual  series  of  golden 
dreams,  and  all  interpreted  by  the  deluding  volume  of  Marco 
Polo. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

FURTHER  COASTING  OF  CUBA. 

While  awaiting  the  return  of  his  ambassadors,  the  admiral 
ordered  the  ships  to  be  careened  and  repaired,  and  employed 
himself  in  collecting  information  concerning  the  country.  On 
the  day  after  their  departure,  he  ascended  the  river  in  boats 
for  the  distance  of  two  leagues,  until  he  came  to  fresh  water. 
Here  landing,  he  climbed  a  hill  to  obtain  a  view  of  the  interior. 
His  view,  however,  was  shut  in  by  thick  and  lofty  forests,  of 
wild  but  beautiful  luxuriance.  Among  the  trees  were  some 
which  he  considered  linaloes ;  many  were  odoriferous,  and  he 
doubted  not  possessed  valuable  aromatic  qualities.  There  was 
ft  general  eagerness  among  the  voyagers  to  find  the  precious 
articles  of  commerce  which  grow  in  the  favored  climes  of  the 
East,  and  their  imaginations  were  continually  deceived  by 
their  hopes. 

For  two  or  three  days  the  admiral  was  excited  by  reports  of 
cinnamon-trees,  and  nutmegs,  and  rhubarb;  but  on  examina¬ 
tion  they  all  proved  fallacious.  He  showed  the  natives  speci¬ 
mens  of  those  and  various  other  spices  and  drugs,  and  under¬ 
stood  from  them  that  those  articles  abounded  to  the  south-east, 


128 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


He  showed  them  gold  and  pearls  also,  and  several  old  Indians 
spoke  of  a  country  where  the  natives  wore  ornaments  of  them 
round  their  necks,  arms,  and  ankles.  They  repeatedly  men¬ 
tioned  the  word  Boliio,  which  Columbus  supposed  to  be  the 
name  of  the  place  in  question,  and  that  it  was  some  rich  dis¬ 
trict  or  island.  They  mingled,  however,  great  extravagances 
with  their  imperfect  accounts,  describing  nations  at  a  distance 
who  had  but  one  eye ;  others  who  had  the  heads  of  dogs,  and 
who  were  cannibals — cutting  the  throats  of  their  prisoners  and 
sucking  their  blood.* 

All  these  reports  of  gold,  and  pearls,  and  spices,  many  of  winch 
were  probably  fabrications  to  please  the  admiral,  tended  to  keep 
up  the  persuasion  that  he  was  among  the  valuable  coasts  and 
islands  of  the  East.  On  making  a  fire  to  heat  the  tar  for  ca¬ 
reening  the  ships,  the  seamen  found  that  the  wood  they  burnt 
sent  forth  a  powerful  odor,  and,  on  examining  it,  declared  that 
it  was  mastic.  The  wood  abounded  in  the  neighboring  forests, 
insomuch  that  Columbus  flattered  himself  a  thousand  quintals 
of  this  precious  gum  might  be  collected  every  year,  and  a  more 
abundant  supply  procured  than  that  furnished  by  Scios  and 
other  islands  of  the  Archipelago.  In  the  course  of  their  re¬ 
searches  in  the  vegetable  kingdom,  in  quest  of  the  luxuries  of 
commerce,  they  met  with  the  potato,  a  humble  root,  little 
valued  at  the  time,  but  a  more  precious  acquisition  to  man  than 
all  the  spices  of  the  East. 

On  the  6th  of  November,  the  two  ambassadors  returned,  and 
every  one  crowded  to  hear  tidings  of  the  interior  of  the  country, 
and  of  the  prince  to  whose  capital  they  had  been  sent.  After 
penetrating  twelve  leagues,  they  had  come  to  a  village  of  fifty 
houses,  built  similarly  to  those  of  the  coast,  but  larger;  the 
whole  village  containing  at  least  a  thousand  inhabitants.  The 
natives  received  them  with  great  solemnity,  conducted  them  to 
the  best  house,  and  placed  them  in  what  appeared  to  be  intend¬ 
ed  for  chairs  of  state,  being  wrought  out  of  single  pieces  of  wood, 
into  the  forms  of  quadrupeds.  They  then  offered  them  fruits 
and  vegetables.  Having  complied  with  the  laws  of  savage  cour¬ 
tesy  and  hospitality,  they  seated  themselves  on  the  ground 
around  their  visitors,  and  waited  to  hear  what  they  had  to  com¬ 
municate. 

The  Israelite,  Luis  de  Torres,  found  his  Hebrew,  Chaldaic,  and 
Arabic  of  no  avail,  and  the  Lucayen  interpreter  had  to  be  the 


*  Primer  Viage  de  Colon.  Navarrete,  tom.  clxxi.  p.  48. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


129 


orator.  He  made  a  regular  speech,  after  the  Indian  manner,  in 
which  he  extolled  the  power,  the  wealth,  the  munificence  of  the 
white  men.  When  he  had  finished  the  Indians  crowded  round 
these  wonderful  beings,  whom,  as  usual,  they  considered  more 
than  human.  Some  touched  them,  examining  their  skin  and 
raiment,  others  kissed  their  hands  and  feet,  in  token  of  submis¬ 
sion  or  adoration.  In  a  little  while  the  men  withdrew,  and  were 
succeeded  by  the  women,  and  the  same  ceremonies  were  re¬ 
peated.  Some  of  the  women  had  a  slight  covering  of  netted  cot¬ 
ton  round  the  middle,  but  in  general  both  sexes  were  entirely 
naked.  There  seemed  to  be  ranks  and  orders  of  society  among 
them,  and  a  chieftain  of  some  authority ;  whereas  among  all  the 
natives  they  had  previously  met  with  a  complete  equality  seemed 
to  prevail. 

There  was  no  appearance  of  gold  or  other  precious  articles, 
and  when  they  showed  specimens  of  cinnamon,  pepper,  and 
other  spices,  the  inhabitants  told  them  they  were  not  to  be  found 
in  that  neighborhood,  but  far  off  to  the  south-west. 

The  envoys  determined,  therefore,  to  return  to  the  ships.  The 
natives  would  fain  have  induced  them  to  remain  for  several 
days ;  but  seeing  them  bent  on  departing,  a  great  number  were 
anxious  to  accompany  them,  imagining  they  were  about  to 
return  to  the  skies.  They  took  with  them,  however,  only  one 
of  the  principal  men,  with  his  son,  who  were  attended  by  a 
domestic. 

On  their  way  back,  they  for  the  first  time  witnessed  the  use 
of  a  weed,  which  the  ingenious  caprice  of  man  has  since  con¬ 
verted  into  an  universal  luxury,  in  defiance  of  the  opposition  of 
the  senses.  They  beheld  several  of  the  natives  going  about  with 
firebrands  in  their  hands,  and  certain  dried  herbs  which  they 
rolled  up  in  a  leaf,  and  lighting  one  end,  put  the  other  in  their 
mouths,  and  continued  exhaling  and  puffing  out  the  smoke. 
A  roll  of  this  kind  they  called  a  tobacco,  a  name  since  trans¬ 
ferred  to  the  plant  of  which  the  rolls  were  made.  The  Span¬ 
iards,  although  prepared  to  meet  with  wonders,  were  struck 
with  astonishment  at  this  singular  and  apparently  nauseous 
indulgence.* 


*  Primer  Viage  de  Colon.  Navarrete,  tom.  i.  p.  51. 

“  Hallaron  por  el  camino  mucha  gente  que  atrave-saban  a  sus  pueblos  mugeres  y 
hombres :  siempre  los  hombres  con  un  tison  en  las  manos  y  ciertos  yerbas  para 
tomar  sus  saliumerios,  que  son  unas  yerbas  secas  metidas  en  una  cierta  koja  seca 
tambien  &  man  era  de  mosquete  hecho  de  papel  de  los  que  hacon  los  muchachos  la 
Pascua  del  Espiritu  Santo,  y  encondido  por  una  parte  de  el,  por  la  otra  chupan  o 


130 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


On  their  return  to  the  ships  they  gave  favorable  accounts  of 
the  beauty  and  fertility  of  the  country.  They  had  met  with 
many  hamlets  of  four  or  five  houses,  well  peopled,  embowered 
among  trees,  laden  with  unknown  fruits  of  tempting  hue  and 
delightful  flavor.  Around  them  were  fields,  cultivated  with  the 
agi  or  sweet  pepper,  potatoes,  maize  or  Indian  corn,  a  species  of 
lupin  or  pulse,  and  yuca,  whereof  they  made  their  cassava  bread. 
These,  with  the  fruits  of  the  groves,  formed  their  principal  food. 
There  were  vast  quantities  of  cotton,  some  just  sown,  some  in 
full  growth.  There  was  great  store  of  it  also  in  their  houses, 
some  wrought  into  yarn,  or  into  nets,  of  which  they  made  their 
hammocks.  They  had  seen  many  birds  of  rare  plumage,  but 
unknown  species ;  many  ducks ;  several  small  partridges ;  and 
they  heard  the  song  of  a  bird  which  they  had  mistaken  for  the 
nightingale.  All  that  they  had  seen,  however,  betokened  a 
primitive  and  simple  state  of  society.  The  wonder  with  which 
they  had  been  regarded  showed  clearly  that  the  people  were 
strangers  to  civilized  man,  nor  could  they  hear  of  any  inland 
city  superior  to  the  one  they  had  visited. 

The  report  of  the  envoys  put  an  end  to  many  splendid  fancies 
of  Columbus,  about  the  barbaric  prince  and  his  capital.  He  was 
cruising,  however,  in  a  region  of  enchantment,  in  which  pleas¬ 
ing  chimeras  started  up  at  every  step,  exercising  by  turns  a 
power  over  his  imagination.  During  the  absence  of  the  emis¬ 
saries,  the  Indians  had  informed  him,  by  signs,  of  a  place  to  the 
eastward,  where  the  people  collected  gold  along  the  river  banks 
by  torchlight,  and  afterward  wrought  it  into  bars  with  ham¬ 
mers.  In  speaking  of  this  place  they  again  used  the  words  Ba- 
beque  and  Bohio,  which  he,  as  usual,  supposed  to  be  the  proper 
names  of  islands  or  countries.  The  true  meaning  of  these  words 
has  been  variously  explained.  It  is  said  that  they  were  applied 
by  the  Indians  to  the  coast  of  terra  firma,  called  also  by  them 
Caritaba.* *  It  is  also  said  that  Bohio  means  a  house,  and  was 
often  used  by  the  Indians  to  signify  the  populousness  of  an 
island.  Hence  it  was  frequently  applied  to  Hispaniola,  as 
well  as  the  more  general  name  of  Hayti,  which  means  high 
land,  and  occasionally  Quisqueya  (i.e.  the  whole),  on  account 
of  its  extent. 


sorbant  6  reciben  con  el  resuello  por  adentro  aquel  humo;  con  el  qual  se  adormecen 
las  carnes  y  cuasi  emborracho,  y  asi  diz  que  no  sientenel  caasancio.  Estos  mosque 
tos,  6  como  los  llam&remas,  llamen  ellos  tabacos.” — Las  Casas,  Hist.  Gen.  Ind.  lib. 
i.  cap.  46. 

*  Mufioz,  Hist.  N.  Mundo,  cap.  3. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


131 


The  misapprehension  of  these,  and  other  words,  was  a  source 
of  perpetual  error  to  Columbus.  Sometimes  he  supposed 
Babeque  and  Bohio  to  signify  the  same  islands;  sometimes 
to  be  different  places  or  islands;  and  Quisqueya  he  supposed 
to  mean  Quisai  or  Quinsai  (i.e.  the  celestial  city)  mentioned  by 
Marco  Polo. 

His  great  object  was  to  arrive  at  some  opulent  and  civilized 
country  of  the  East,  with  which  he  might  establish  commercial 
relations,  and  whence  he  might  carry  home  a  quantity  of  orien¬ 
tal  merchandise  as  a  rich  trophy  of  his  discovery.  The  season 
was  advancing;  the  cool  nights  gave  hints  of  approaching  win¬ 
ter;  he  resolved,  therefore,  not  to  proceed  farther  to  the  north, 
nor  to  linger  about  uncivilized  places,  which,  at  present,  he  had 
not  the  means  of  colonizing,  but  to  return  to  the  east-south-east, 
in  quest  of  Babeque,  which  he  trusted  might  prove  some  rich 
and  civilized  island  on  the  coast  of  Asia. 

Before  leaving  the  river,  to  which  he  had  given  the  name  of 
Rio  de  Mares,  he  took  several  of  the  natives  to  carry  with  him  to 
Spain,  for  the  purpose  of  teaching  them  the  language,  that,  in 
future  voyages,  they  might  serve  as  interpreters.  He  took  them 
of  both  sexes,  having  learned  from  the  Portuguese  discoverers 
that  the  men  were  always  more  contented  on  the  voyage,  and 
serviceable  on  their  return,  when  accompanied  by  females. 
With  the  religious  feeling  of  the  day,  he  anticipated  great  tri¬ 
umphs  to  the  faith  and  glory  to  the  crown,  from  the  conversion 
of  these  savage  nations,  through  the  means  of  the  natives  thus 
instructed.  He  imagined  that  the  Indians  had  no  system  of 
religion,  but  a  disposition  to  receive  its  impressions ;  as  they 
regarded  with  great  reverence  and  attention  the  religious  cere¬ 
monies  of  the  Spaniards,  soon  repeating  by  rote  any  prayer 
taught  them,  and  making  the  sign  of  the  cross  with  the  most 
edifying  devotion.  They  had  an  idea  of  a  future  state,  but  lim¬ 
ited  and  confused.  “  They  confess  the  soul  to  be  immortal,” 
says  Peter  Martyr,  “and  having  put  off  the  bodily  clothing, 
they  imagine  it  goes  forth  to  the  woods  and  the  mountains, 
and  that  it  liveth  there  perpetually  in  caves;  nor  do  they 
exempt  it  from  eating  and  drinking,  but  that  it  should  be  fed 
there.  The  answering  voices  heard  from  caves  and  hollows, 
which  the  Latinos  call  echoes,  they  suppose  to  be  the  souls  of 
the  departed,  wandering  through  those  places.* 

From  the  natural  tendency  to  devotion  which  Columbus 


*  P-  Martyr,  decad.  viii.  oajo,  9;  M.  Lock’s  translation,  1612. 


132 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


thought  he  discovered  among  them,  from  their  gentle  natures, 
and  their  ignorance  of  all  warlike  arts,  he  pronounces  it  an  easy 
matter  to  make  them  devout  members  of  the  church  and  loyal 
subjects  of  the  crown.  He  concludes  his  speculations  upon  the 
advantages  to  be  derived  from  the  colonization  of  these  parts  by 
anticipating  a  great  trade  for  gold,  which  must  abound  in  the 
interior ;  for  pearls  and  precious  stones,  of  which,  though  he  had 
seen  none,  he  had  received  frequent  accounts;  for  gums  and 
spices,  of  which  he  thought  he  had  found  indubitable  traces; 
and  for  the  cotton,  which  grew  wild  in  vast  quantities.  Many 
of  these  articles,  he  observes,  would  probably  find  a  nearer 
market  than  Spain,  in  the  ports  and  cities  of  the  Great  Khan, 
at  which  he  had  no  doubt  of  soon  arriving.* 


CHAPTER  V. 

SEARCH  AFTER  THE  SUPPOSED  ISLAND  OF  BABEQUE— DESERTION 

OF  THE  PINTA. 

[1492.] 

On  the  12th  of  November,  Columbus  turned  his  course  to  the 
east-south-east,  to  follow  back  the  direction  of  the  coast.  This 
may  be  considered  another  critical  change  in  his  voyage,  which 
had  a  great  effect  upon  his  subsequent  discoveries.  He  had  pro¬ 
ceeded  far  within  what  is  called  the  old  channel,  between  Cuba 
and  the  Bahamas.  In  two  or  three  days  more  he  would  have 
discovered  his  mistake  in  supposing  Cuba  a  part  of  terra  firma ; 
an  error  in  which  he  continued  to  the  day  of  his  death.  He 
might  have  had  intimation  also  of  the  vicinity  of  the  continent, 
and  have  stood  for  the  coast  of  Florida,  or  have  been  carried 
tliither  by  the  gulf  stream,  or,  continuing  along  Cuba  where  it 
bends  to  the  south-west,  might  have  struck  over  to  the  opposite 
coast  of  Yucatan,  and  have  realized  his  most  sanguine  anticipa¬ 
tions  in  becoming  the  discoverer  of  Mexico.  It  was  sufficient 
glory  for  Columbus,  however,  to  have  discovered  a  new  world. 
Its  more  golden  regions  were  reserved  to  give  splendor  to  suc¬ 
ceeding  enterprises. 

He  now  ran  along  the  coast  for  two  or  three  days  without 


♦  Primer  Viage  de  Colon.  Navarrete,  tom.  i. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


133 


stopping  to  explore  it,  as  no  populous  towns  or  cities  were  to  be 
seen.  Passing  by  a  great  cape,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of 
Cape  Cuba,  he  struck  eastward  in  search  of  Babeque,  but  on  the 
14th  a  head  wind  and  boisterous  sea  obliged  him  to  put  back  and 
anchor  in  a  deep  and  secure  harbor,  to  which  he  gave  the  name 
of  Puerto  del  Principe.  Here  he  erected  a  cross  on  a  neighbor¬ 
ing  height,  in  token  of  possession.  A  few  days  were  passed  in 
exploring  with  his  boats  an  archipelago  of  small  but  beautiful 
islands  in  the  vicinity,  since  known  as  El  jardin  del  Hey,  or 
the  king’s  garden.  The  gulf,  studded  with  these  islands,  he 
named  the  sea  of  Nuestra  Senora;  in  modern  days  it  has 
been  a  lurking-place  for  pirates,  who  have  found  secure  shel¬ 
ter  and  concealment  among  the  channels  and  solitary  har¬ 
bors  of  this  archipelago.  These  islands  were  covered  with 
noble  trees,  among  which  the  Spaniards  thought  they  discov¬ 
ered  mastic  and  aloes. 

On  the  19th  Columbus  again  put  to  sea,  and  for  two  days  made 
ineffectual  attempts,  against  head  winds,  to  reach  an  island  di¬ 
rectly  east,  about  sixty  miles  distant,  which  he  supposed  to  be 
Babeque.  The  wind  continuing  obstinately  adverse  and  the  sea 
rough,  he  put  his  ship  about  toward  evening  of  the  20th,  mak¬ 
ing  signals  for  the  other  vessels  to  follow  him.  His  signals  were 
unattended  to  by  the  Pinta,  which  was  considerably  to  the  east¬ 
ward.  Columbus  repeated  the  signals,  but  they  were  still  un¬ 
attended  to.  Night  coming  on,  he  shortened  sail  and  hoisted 
signal  lights  to  the  masthead,  thinking  Pinzon  would  yet  join 
him,  which  he  could  easily  do,  having  the  wind  astern;  but 
when  the  morning  dawned  the  Pinta  was  no  longer  to  be  seen.* 

Columbus  was  disquieted  by  this  circumstance.  Pinzon  was 
a  veteran  navigator,  accustomed  to  hold  a  high  rank  among  his 
nautical  associates.  The  squadron  had  in  a  great  measure  been 
manned  and  fitted  out  through  his  influence  and  exertions ;  he 
could  ill  brook  subordination  therefore  to  Columbus,  whom  he 
perhaps  did  not  consider  his  superior  in  skill  and  knowledge, 
and  who  had  been  benefited  by  his  purse.  Several  misunder¬ 
standings  and  disputes  had  accordingly  occurred  between  them 
in  the  course  of  the  voyage,  and  when  Columbus  saw  Pinzon 
thus  parting  company,  without  any  appointed  rendezvous,  he 
suspected  either  that  he  intended  to  take  upon  himself  a  sepa¬ 
rate  command  and  prosecute  the  enterprise  in  his  own  name. 


*  Las  Casas,  Hist.  Ind.,tom.  i.  cap.  27.  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  29.  Journal  of 
Columbus.  Navarrete,  tom.  i. 


134 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


or  hasten  back  to  Spain  and  bear  off  the  glory  of  the  discovery. 
To  attempt  to  seek  him,  however,  was  fruitless :  he  was  far  out 
of  sight ;  his  vessel  was  a  superior  sailer,  and  it  was  impossible 
to  say  what  course  he  had  steered.  Columbus  stood  back, 
therefore,  for  Cuba,  to  finish  the  exploring  of  its  coast;  but  he 
no  longer  possessed  his  usual  serenity  of  mind  and  unity  of 
purpose,  and  was  embarrassed  in  the  prosecution  of  his  dis¬ 
coveries  by  doubts  of  the  designs  of  Pinzon. 

On  the  24th  of  November  he  regained  Point  Cuba,  and 
anchored  in  a  fine  harbor  formed  by  the  mouth  of  a  river,  to 
which  he  gave  the  name  of  St.  Catherine.  It  was  bordered  by 
rich  meadows ;  the  neighboring  mountains  were  well  wooded, 
having  pines  tall  enough  to  make  masts  for  the  finest  ships,  and 
noble  oaks.  In  the  bed  of  the  river  were  found  stones  veined 
with  gold. 

Commbus  continued  for  several  days  coasting  the  residue  of 
Cuba,  extolling  the  magnificence,  freshness,  and  verdure  of  the 
scenery,  the  purity  of  the  rivers,  and  the  number  and  commo- 
diousness  of  the  harbors.  Speaking  in  his  letters  to  the  sover¬ 
eigns  of  one  place,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  Puerto  Santo, 
he  says,  in  his  artless  but  enthusiastic  language,  “  The  amenity 
of  this  river,  and  the  clearness  of  the  water,  through  which  the 
sand  au  the  bottom  may  be  seen ;  the  multitude  of  palm-trees  of 
various  forms,  the  highest  and  most  beautiful  that  I  have  met 
with,  and  an  infinity  of  other  great  and  green  trees ;  the  birds  in 
rich  plumage  and  the  verdure  of  the  fields,  render  this  country, 
most  serene  princes,  of  such  marvellous  beauty,  that  it  sur¬ 
passes  ah  others  in  charms  and  graces,  as  the  day  doth  the  night 
in  lustre.  For  which  reason  I  often  say  to  my  people,  that, 
much  as  I  endeavor  to  give  a  complete  account  of  it  to  your 
majesties,  my  tongue  camiot  express  the  whole  truth,  nor  my 
pen  describe  it ;  and  I  have  been  so  overwhelmed  at  the  sight  of 
so  much  beauty,  that  I  have  not  known  how  to  relate  it.”  * 

The  transparency  of  the  water,  which  Columbus  attributed 
to  the  purity  of  the  rivers,  is  the  property  of  the  ocean  in  these 
latitudes.  So  clear  is  the  sea  in  the  neighborhood  of  some  of 
these  islands,  that  in  still  weather  the  bottom  may  be  seen,  as 
in  a  crystal  fountain ;  and  the  inhabitants  dive  down  four  or 
five  fathoms  in  search  of  conchs,  and  other  shell-fish,  which 
are  visible  from  the  surface.  The  delicate  air  and  pure  waters 
of  these  islands  are  among  their  greatest  charms. 


*  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  29. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


135 


As  a  proof  of  the  gigantic  vegetation,  Columbus  mentions  tha 
enormous  size  of  the  canoes  formed  from  single  trunks  of  trees. 
One  that  he  saw  was  capable  of  containing  one  hundred  and 
fifty  persons.  Among  other  articles  found  in  the  Indian  dwell¬ 
ings  was  a  cake  of  wax,  which  he  took  to  present  to  the  Castib 
ian  sovereigns,  J ‘  for  where  there  is  wax,”  said  he,  “  there  must 
be  a  thousand  other  good  things.”*  It  is  since  supposed  to 
have  been  brought  from  Yucatan,  as  the  inhabitants  of  Cub<? 
were  not  accustomed  to  gather  wax.f 
On  the  5th  of  December  he  reached  the  eastern  end  of  Cuba, 
which  he  supposed  to  be  the  eastern  extremity  of  Asia ;  he  gave 
it,  therefore,  the  name  of  Alpha  and  Omega,  the  beginning  and 
the  end.  He  was  now  greatly  perplexed  what  course  to  take. 
If  he  kept  along  the  coast  as  it  bent  to  the  south-west,  it  might 
bring  him  to  the  more  civilized  and  opulent  parts  of  India ;  but 
if  he  took  this  course,  he  must  abandon  all  hope  of  finding  the 
island  of  Babeque,  which  the  Indians  now  said  lay  to  the  north¬ 
east,  and  of  which  they  still  continued  to  give  the  most  marvel¬ 
lous  accounts.  It  was  a  state  of  embarrassment  characteristic 
of  this  extraordinary  voyage,  to  have  a  new  and  unknown 
world  thus  spread  out  to  the  choice  of  the  explorer,  where  won¬ 
ders  and  beauties  invited  him  on  every  side ;  but  where,  which¬ 
ever  way  he  turned,  he  might  leave  the  true  region  of  profit 
and  delight  behind. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

DISCOVERY  OF  HISPANIOLA. 

[1492.] 

While  Columbus  was  steering  at  large  beyond  the  eastern  ex¬ 
tremity  of  Cuba,  undetermined  what  course  to  take,  he  descried 
land  to  the  south-east,  gradually  increasing  upon  the  view ;  its 
high  mountains  towering  above  the  clear  horizon,  and  giving 
evidence  of  an  island  of  great  extent.  The  Indians,  on  behold¬ 
ing  it,  exclaimed  Bohio,  the  name  by  which  Columbus  under¬ 
stood  them  to  designate  some  country  which  abounded  in  gold. 


*  Journal  of  Columbus.  Narvarrete,  tom.  i. 
t  Herrera,  Hist.  Ind.,  decad.  L 


136 


LIFE  OF  CniUSTOPnER  COLUMBUS. 


When  they  saw  him  standing  in  that  direction,  they  showed 
great  signs  of  terror,  imploring  him  not  to  visit  it,  assuring  him, 
by  signs,  that  the  inhabitants  were  fierce  and  cruel,  that  they 
had  but  one  eye,  and  were  cannibals.  The  wind  being  unfavor¬ 
able,  and  the  nights  long,  during  which  they  did  not  dare  to 
make  sail  in  these  unknown  seas,  they  were  a  great  part  of  two 
days  working  up  to  the  island. 

In  the  transparent  atmosphere  of  the  tropics,  objects  are  de¬ 
scried  at  a  great  distance,  and  the  purity  of  the  air  and  seren¬ 
ity  of  the  deep  blue  sky  give  a  magical  effect  to  the  scenery. 
Under  these  advantages,  the  beautiful  island  of  Hayti  revealed 
itself  to  the  eye  as  they  approached.  Its  mountains  were  higher 
and  more  rocky  than  those  of  the  other  islands ;  but  the  rocks 
rose  from  among  rich  forests.  The  mountains  swept  down  into 
luxuriant  plains  and  green  savannas ;  while  the  appearance  of 
cultivated  fields,  of  numerous  fires  at  night,  and  columns  of 
smoke  by  day,  showed  it  to  be  populous.  It  rose  before  them 
in  all  the  splendor  of  tropical  vegetation,  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  islands  in  the  world,  and  doomed  to  he  one  of  the 
most  unfortunate. 

In  the  evening  of  the  6th  of  December,  Columbus  entered  a 
harbor  at  the  western  end  of  the  island,  to  which  he  gave  the 
name  of  St.  Nicholas,  by  which  it  is  called  at  the  present  day. 
The  harbor  was  spacious  and  deep,  surrounded  with  large  trees, 
many  of  them  loaded  with  fruit ;  while  a  beautiful  plain  ex¬ 
tended  in  front  of  the  port,  traversed  by  a  fine  stream  of  water. 
From  the  number  of  canoes  seen  in  various  parts,  there  were 
evidently  large  villages  in  the  neighborhood,  but  the  natives 
had  fled  with  terror  at  sight  of  the  ships. 

Leaving  the  harbor  of  St.  Nicholas  on  the  7th,  they  coasted 
along  the  northern  side  of  the  island.  It  was  lofty  and  moun¬ 
tainous,  but  with  green  savannas  and  long  sweeping  plains. 
At  one  place  they  caught  a  view  up  a  rich  and  smiling  valley 
that  ran  far  into  the  interior,  between  two  mountains,  and  ap¬ 
peared  to  be  in  a  high  state  of  cultivation. 

For  several  days  they  were  detained  in  a  harbor  which  they 
called  Port  Conception;*  a  small  river  emptied  into  it,  after 


*  Now  known  by  the  name  of  the  Bay  of  Moustique. 

Note.— The  author  has  received  very  obliging  and  interesting  letters,  dated  in 
1847,  from  T.  S.  Heneken,  Esq.,  many  years  a  resident  of  St.  Domingo,  giving  names, 
localities,  and  other  particulars  connected  with  the  transactions  of  Columbus  in 
that  island.  These  will  be  thankfully  made  use  of  and  duly  cited  in  the  course  of 
the  work. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


137 


winding  through  a  delightful  country.  The  coast  abounded 
with  fish,  some  of  which  even  leaped  into  their  boats.  They 
cast  their  nets,  therefore,  and  caught  great  quantities,  and 
among  them  several  kinds  similar  to  those  of  Spain — the  first 
fish  they  had  met  with  resembling  those  of  their  own  country 
The  notes  of  the  bird  which  they  mistook  for  the  nightingale  , 
and  of  several  others  to  which  they  were  accustomed,  reminded 
them  strongly  of  the  groves  of  their  distant  Andalusia.  They 
fancied  the  features  of  the  surrounding  country  resembled  those 
of  the  more  beautiful  provinces  of  Spain,  and,  in  consequence, 
the  admiral  named  the  island  Hispaniola. 

Desirous  of  establishing  some  intercourse  with  the  natives, 
who  had  abandoned  the  coast  on  his  arrival,  he  dispatched  six 
men,  well  armed,  into  the  interior.  They  found  several  culti¬ 
vated  fields,  and  traces  of  roads,  and  places  where  fires  had 
been  made,  but  the  inhabitants  had  fled  with  terror  to  the 
mountains. 

Though  the  whole  country  was  solitary  and  deserted,  Colum¬ 
bus  consoled  himself  with  the  idea  that  there  must  be  populous 
towns  in  the  interior,  where  the  people  had  taken  refuge,  and 
that  the  fires  he  had  beheld  had  been  signal  fires,  like  those 
lighted  up  on  the  mountains  of  Spain,  in  the  times  of  Moorish 
war,  to  give  the  alarm  when  there  was  any  invasion  of  the  sea¬ 
board. 

On  the  12th  of  December  Columbus  with  great  solemnity 
erected  a  cross  on  a  commanding  eminence,  at  the  entrance  of 
the  harbor,  in  sign  of  having  taken  possession.  As  three  sailors 
were  rambling  about  the  vicinity  they  beheld  a  large  number 
of  the  natives,  who  immediately  took  flight ;  but  the  sailors 
pursued  them,  and  captured  a  young  female,  whom  they 
brought  to  the  ships.  She  was  perfectly  naked,  a  bad  omen  as 
to  the  civilization  of  the  island,  but  an  ornament  of  gold  in  the 
nose  gave  hope  of  the  precious  metal.  The  admiral  soon  soothed 
her  terror  by  his  kindness,  and  by  presents  of  beads,  brass 
rings,  hawks’  bells,  and  other  trinkets,  and,  having  had  her 
clothed,  sent  her  on  shore  accompanied  by  several  of  the  crew 
and  three  of  the  Indian  interpreters.  So  well  pleased  was  she 
with  her  finery,  and  with  the  kind  treatment  she  had  experi¬ 
enced,  that  she  would  gladly  have  remained  with  the  Indian 
women  whom  she  found  on  board.  The  party  sent  with  her 
returned  on  board  late  in  the  night,  without  venturing  to  her 
village,  which  was  far  inland.  Confident  of  the  favorable  im* 
pression  which  the  report  given  by  the  woman  must  produce, 


138 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


the  admiral  on  the  following  day  dispatched  nine  stout-hearted, 
well-armed  men,  to  seek  the  village,  accompanied  by  a  native 
of  Cuba  as  an  interpreter.  They  found  it  about  four  and  a  half 
leagues  to  the  south-east,  in  a  fine  valley,  on  the  hanks  of  a 
beautiful  river.*  It  contained  one  thousand  houses,  but  the  in¬ 
habitants  fled  as  they  approached.  The  interpreter  overtook 
them,  and  assured  them  of  the  goodness  of  these  strangers,  who 
had  descended  from  the  skies,  and  went  about  the  world  mak¬ 
ing  precious  and  beautiful  presents.  Thus  assured,  the  natives 
ventured  back  to  the  number  of  two  thousand.  They  ap¬ 
proached  the  Spaniards  with  slow  and  trembling  steps,  often 
pausing  and  putting  their  hands  upon  their  heads,  in  token  of 
profound  reverence  and  submission.  They  were  a  well-formed 
race,'  fairer  and  handsomer  than  the  natives  of  the  other 
islands.!  While  the  Spaniards  were  conversing  with  them 
by  means  of  their  interpreter,  another  multitude  approached, 
headed  by  the  husband  of  the  female  captive.  They  brought 
her  in  triumph  on  their  shoulders,  and  the  husband  was  profuse 
in  his  gratitude  for  the  kindness  with  which  she  had  been 
treated,  and  the  magnificent  presents  which  had  been  bestowed 
upon  her. 

The  Indians  now  conducted  the  Spaniards  to  their  houses, 
and  set  before  them  cassava  bread,  fish,  roots,  and  fruits  of 
various  kinds.  They  brought  also  great  numbers  of  domestic 
cated  parrots,  and  indeed  offered  freely  whatever  they  pos¬ 
sessed.  The  great  river  flowing  through  this  valley  was  bor¬ 
dered  with  noble  forests,  among  which  were  palms,  bananas, 
and  many  trees  covered  with  fruit  and  flowers.  The  air  was 
mild  as  in  April ;  the  birds  sang  all  day  long,  and  some  were 
even  heard  in  the  night.  The  Spaniards  had  not  learned  as 
yet  to  account  for  the  difference  of  seasons  in  this  opposite 
part  of  the  globe ;  they  were  astonished  to  hear  the  voice  of  this 
supposed  nightingale  singing  in  the  midst  of  December,  and 
considered  it  a  proof  that  there  was  no  winter  in  this  happy 
climate.  They  returned  to  the  ships  enraptured  with  the  beauty 
of  the  country,  surpassing,  as  they  said,  even  the  luxuriant 
plains  of  Cordova.  All  that  they  complained  of  was  that  they 
saw  no  signs  of  riches  among  the  natives.  And  here  it  is  impos« 


*  This  village  was  formerly  known  by  the  name  of  Gros  Morne,  situated  on  the 
banks  of  the  river  of  “  Trois  Rivieres,”  which  empties  itself  half  a  mile  west  oi 
Port  de  Paix.  Navarrete,  tom.  i. 
t  Las  Casas,  lib  i.  cap.  53,  ms 


! 


-  i  r 


FART  OF  A  TERRESTRIAL  GLOBE  MADE  AT  NUREMBERG  IN  THE  YEAS 

1492  BY  MARTIN  BEHEM. 

The  terrestrial  globe,  of  which  a  segment  is  given  above,  was  made  at  Nurem- 
berg  in  the  year  1492,  the  very  year  on  which  Columbus  departed  on  his  first 
voyage  of  discovery.  Martin  Behem,  the  inventor,  was  one  of  the  most  learned 
cosmographers  of  the  time,  and,  having  resided  at  Lisbon  in  the  employ  of  the 
king  of  Portugal,  he  had  probably  seen  the  map  of  Toscanelli,  and  the  documents 
submitted  by  Columbus  to  the  consideration  of  the  Portuguese  Government.  Hia 
globe  may,  therefore,  be  presumed  illustrative  of  the  idea  entertained  by  Colum¬ 
bus  of  the  islands  in  the  ocean  near  the  extremity  of  Asia,  at  the  time  he  under¬ 
took  his  discovery. 


f 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


141 


Bible  to  refrain  from  dwelling  on  the  picture  given  by  the  first 
discoverers,  of  the  state  of  manners  in  this  eventful  island  before 
the  arrival  of  the  white  men.  According  to  their  accounts,  the 
people  of  Hayti  existed  in  that  state  of  primitive  and  savage 
simplicity  which  some  philosophers  have  fondly  pictured  as  the 
most  enviable  on  earth ;  surrounded  by  natural  blessings,  with¬ 
out  even  a  knowledge  of  artificial  wants.  The  fertile  earth  pro¬ 
duced  the  chief  part  of  their  food  almost  without  culture ;  their 
rivers  and  sea-coast  abounded  with  fish,  and  they  caught  the 
utia,  the  guana,  and  a  variety  of  birds.  This,  to  beings  of  their 
frugal  and  temperate  habits,  was  great  abundance,  and  what 
nature  furnished  thus  spontaneously  they  willingly  shared  with 
all  the  world.  Hospitality,  we  are  told,  was  with  them  a  law 
of  nature  universally  observed;  there  was  no  need  of  being 
known  to  receive  its  succors ;  every  house  was  as  open  to  the 
stranger  as  his  own.*  Columbus,  too,  in  a  letter  to  Luis  de  St. 
Angel,  observes,  “  True  it  is  that  after  they  felt  confidence,  and 
lost  their  fear  of  us,  they  were  so  liberal  with  what  they  pos¬ 
sessed,  that  it  would  not  be  believed  by  those  who  had  not  seen 
it.  If  anything  was  asked  of  them,  they  never  said  no,  but 
rather  gave  it  cheerfully,  and  showed  as  much  amity  as  if  they 
gave  their  very  hearts ;  and  whether  the  thing  were  of  value, 
or  of  little  price,  they  were  content  with  whatever  was  given 
in  return.  ...  In  all  these  islands  it  appears  to  me  that  the 
men  are  all  content  with  one  wife,  but  they  give  twenty  to  their 
chieftain  or  king.  The  women  seem  to  work  more  than  the 
men ;  and  I  have  not  been  able  to  understand  whether  they  pos¬ 
sess  individual  property ;  but  rather  think  that  whatever  one 
has  all  the  rest  share,  especially  in  all  articles  of  provisions.  ”f 
One  of  the  most  pleasing  descriptions  of  the  inhabitants  of 
this  island  is  given  by  old  Peter  Martyr,  who  gathered  it,  as  he 
says,  from  the  conversations  of  the  admiral  himself.  “It  is 
certain,”  says  he,  “that  the  land  among  these  people  is  as  com¬ 
mon  as  the  sun  and  water ;  and  that  1  mine  and  thine,  ’  the  seeds 
of  all  mischief,  have  no  place  with  them.  They  are  content 
with  so  little,  that  in  so  large  a  country  they  have  rather  super¬ 
fluity  than  scarceness  ;  so  that  they  seem  to  live  in  the  golden 
world,  without  toil,  living  in  open  gardens;  not  intrenched 
with  dykes,  divided  with  hedges,  or  defended  with  walls.  They 
deal  truly  one  with  another,  without  laws,  without  books,  and 


♦  Charlevoix:.  Hist.  St.  Domingo,  lib.  i. 

t  Letter  of  Columbus  to  Luis  de  St.  Angel.  Navarre te.  tom.  i.  p.  167. 


142 


LIFE  OF  Oil RLSTOPLI R R  COLUMBUS. 


without  judges.  They  take  him  for  an  evil  and  mischievous 
man,  who  taketh  pleasure  in  doing  hurt  to  another;  and  albeit 
they  delight  not  in  superfluities,  yet  they  make  provision  for 
the  increase  of  such  roots  whereof  they  make  their  bread,  con¬ 
tented  with  such  simple  diet,  whereby  health  is  preserved  and 
disease  avoided.  ”  * 

Much  of  this  picture  may  be  overcolored  by  the  im  agination, 
but  it  is  generally  confirmed  by  contemporary  historians.  They 
all  concur  in  representing  the  life  of  these  islanders  as  approach¬ 
ing  to  the  golden  state  of  poetical  felicity ;  living  under  the  ab¬ 
solute  but  patriarchal  and  easy  rule  of  their  caciques,  free  from 
pride,  with  few  wants,  an  abundant  country,  a  happily-tem¬ 
pered  climate,  and  a  natural  disposition  to  careless  and  indolent 
enjoyment. 


CHAPTER  VH. 

COASTING  OF  HISPANIOLA. 

[1492.] 

When  the  weather  became  favorable,  Columbus  made  another 
attempt,  on  the  14th  of  December,  to  find  the  island  of  Babeque, 
but  was  again  baffled  by  adverse  winds.  In  the  course  of  this 
attempt  he  visited  an  island  lying  opposite  to  the  harbor  of 
Conception,  to  which,  from  its  abounding  in  turtle,  he  gave  the 
name  of  Tortugas.f  The  natives  had  fled  to  the  rocks  and  for¬ 
ests,  and  alarm  fires  blazed  along  the  heights.  The  country 
was  so  beautiful  that  he  gave  to  one  of  the  valleys  the  name  of 
Valle  de  Paraiso,  or  the  Vale  of  Paradise,  and  called  a  fine 
stream  the  Guadalquiver,  after  that  renowned  river  which 
flows  through  some  of  the  fairest  provinces  of  Spain.! 

Setting  sail  on  the  16th  of  December  at  midnight,  Columbus 
steered  again  for  Hispaniola.  When  half  way  across  the  gulf 
which  separates  the  islands,  he  perceived  a  canoe  navigated  by 
a  single  Indian,  and,  as  on  a  former  occasion,  was  astonished  at 
his  hardihood  in  venturing  so  far  from  land  in  so  frail  a  bark, 


*  P.  Martyr,  decad.  i.  lib.  iii.  Transl.  of  Richard  Eden,  1555. 

+  This  island  in  after  times  became  the  headquarters  of  the  famous  Buccaneers 
X  Journal  of  Columbus.  Navarrete,  Colec.,  tom.  i.  p.  91. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBTJS. 


143 


and  at  Iris  adroitness  in  keeping  it  above  water,  as  the  wind 
was  fresh,  and  there  was  some  sea  running.  He  ordered  both 
him  and  his  canoe  to  be  taken  on  board ;  and  having  anchored 
near  a  village  on  the  coast  of  Hispaniola,  at  present  known  as 
Puerto  de  Paz,  he  sent  him  on  shore  well  regaled  and  enriched 
with  various  presents. 

In  the  early  intercourse  with  these  people,  kindness  never 
seems  to  have  failed  in  its  effect.  The  favorable  accounts  given 
by  this  Indian,  and  by  those  with  whom  the  Spaniards  had 
communicated  in  their  previous  landings,  dispelled  the  fears  of 
the  islanders.  A  friendly  intercourse  soon  took  place,  and  the 
ships  were  visited  by  a  cacique  of  the  neighborhood.  From 
this  chieftain  and  his  counsellors,  Columbus  had  further  infor¬ 
mation  of  the  island  of  Babeque,  which  was  described  as  lying 
at  no  great  distance.  No  mention  is  afterward  made  of  this 
island,  nor  does  it  appear  that  he  made  any  further  attempt  to 
seek  it.  No  such  island  exists  in  the  ancient  charts,  and  it  is 
probable  that  this  was  one  of  the  numerous  misinterpretations  of 
Indian  words,  which  led  the  first  discoverers  into  so  many  fruit¬ 
less  researches.  The  people  of  Hispaniola  appeared  handsomer 
to  Columbus  than  any  he  had  yet  met  with,  and  of  a  gentle  and 
peaceable  disposition.  Some  of  them  had  ornaments  of  gold, 
which  they  readily  gave  away  or  exchanged  for  any  trifle. 
The  country  was  finely  diversified  with  lofty  mountains  and 
green  valleys,  which  stretched  away  inland  as  far  as  the  eye 
could  reach.  The  mountains  were  of  such  easy  ascent  that  the 
highest  of  them  might  be  ploughed  with  oxen,  and  the  luxuriant 
growth  of  the  forests  manifested  the  fertility  of  the  soil.  The 
valleys  were  watered  by  numerous  clear  and  beautiful  streams ; 
they  appeared  to  be  cultivated  in  many  places,  and  to  be  fitted 
for  grain,  for  orchards,  and  pasturage. 

While  detained  at  this  harbor  by  contrary  winds,  Columbus 
was  visited  by  a  young  cacique,  who  came  borne  by  four  men 
on  a  sort  of  litter,  and  attended  by  two  hundred  of  his  subjects, 
The  admiral  being  at  dinner  when  he  arrived,  the  young  chief¬ 
tain  ordered  his  followers  to  remain  without,  and  entering  the 
cabin,  took  his  seat  beside  Columbus,  not  permitting  him  to 
rise  or  use  any  ceremony.  Only  two  old  men  entered  with 
him,  who  appeared  to  be  his  counsellors,  and  who  seated  them* 
selves  at  his  feet.  If  anything  were  given  him  to  eat  or  drink, 
he  merely  tasted  it,  and  sent  it  to  his  followers,  maintaining  an 
air  of  great  gravity  and  dignity.  He  spoke  but  little,  his  two 
counsellors  watching  his  lips,  and  catching  and  communicating 


144 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


his  ideas.  After  dinner  he  presented  the  admiral  with  a  belt 
curiously  wrought,  and  two  pieces  of  gold.  Columbus  gave 
him  a  piece  of  cloth,  several  amber  beads,  colored  shoes,  and  a 
flask  of  orange-flower  water ;  he  showed  him  a  Spanish  coin,  on 
which  were  the  likenesses  of  the  king  and  queen,  and  endeav¬ 
ored  to  explain  to  him  the  power  and  grandeur  of  those  sov¬ 
ereigns  ;  he  displayed  also  the  royal  banners  and  the  standard 
of  the  cross ;  but  it  was  all  in  vain  to  attempt  to  convey  any 
clear  idea  by  these  symbols ;  the  cacique  could  not  be  made  to 
believe  that  there  was  a  region  on  the  earth  which  produced 
these  wonderful  people  and  wonderful  things;  he  joined  in  the 
common  idea  that  the  Spaniards  were  more  than  mortal,  and 
that  the  country  and  sovereigns  they  talked  of  must  exist  some¬ 
where  in  the  skies. 

In  the  evening  the  cacique  was  sent  on  shore  in  the  boat  with 
great  ceremony,  and  a  salute  fired  in  honor  of  him.  He  de¬ 
parted  in  the  state  in  which  he  had  come,  carried  on  a  litter, 
accompanied  by  a  great  concourse  of  his  subjects;  not  far  be¬ 
hind  him  was  his  son,  borne  and  escorted  in  like  manner,  and 
his  brother  on  foot,  supported  by  two  attendants.  The  presents 
which  he  had  received  from  the  admiral  were  carried  trium¬ 
phantly  before  him. 

They  procured  but  little  gold  in  this  place,  though  whatever 
ornaments  the  natives  possessed  they  readily  gave  away.  The 
region  of  promise  lay  still  further  on,  and  one  of  the  old  coun¬ 
sellors  of  the  cacique  told  Columbus  that  he  would  soon  arrive 
at  islands  rich  in  the  precious  ore.  Before  leaving  this  place, 
the  admiral  caused  a  large  cross  to  be  erected  in  the  centre  of 
the  village,  and  from  the  readiness  with  which  the  Indians  as¬ 
sisted,  and  their  implicit  imitation  of  the  Spaniards  in  their 
acts  of  devotion,  he  inferred  that  it  would  be  an  easy  matter  to 
convert  them  all  to  Christianity. 

On  the  19th  of  December  they  made  sail  before  daylight,  but 
with  an  unfavorable  wind,  and  on  the  evening  of  the  20th  they 
anchored  in  a  fine  harbor,  to  which  Columbus  gave  the  name 
of  St.  Thomas,  supposed  to  be  what  at  present  is  called  the  Bay 
of  Acid.  It  was  surrounded  by  a  beautiful  and  well-peopled 
country.  The  inhabitants  came  off,  some  in  canoes,  some  swim¬ 
ming,  bringing  fruits  of  various  unknown  kinds,  of  great  fra¬ 
grance  and  flavor.  These  they  gave  freely  with  whatever  else 
they  possessed,  especially  their  golden  ornaments,  which  they 
saw  were  particularly  coveted  by  the  strangers.  There  was  a 
remarkable  frankness  and  generosity  about  these  people  ;  they 


LIFE  OF  CUIUSTOPUER  COLUMBUS. 


146 


had  no  idea  of  traffic,  hut  gave  away  everything  with  sponta- 
neous  liberality.  Columbus  would  not  permit  his  people,  how¬ 
ever,  to  take  advantage  of  this  free  disposition,  but  ordered 
that  something  should  always  be  given  in  exchange.  Several 
of  the  neighboring  caciques  visited  the  ships,  bringing  presents, 
and  inviting  the  Spaniards  to  their  villages,  where,  on  going  to 
land,  they  were  most  hospitably  entertained. 

On  the  22d  of  December  a  large  canoe  filled  with  natives  camj 
on  a  mission  from  a  grand  cacique  named  Guacanagari,  who 
commanded  all  that  part  of  the  island.  A  principal  servant  of 
the  chieftain  came  in  the  canoe,  bringing  the  admiral  a  present 
of  a  broad  belt,  wrought  ingeniously  with  colored  beads  and 
bones,  and  a  wooden  mask,  the  eyes,  nose,  and  tongue  of  which 
were  of  gold.  He  delivered  also  a  message  from  the  cacique, 
begging  that  the  ships  might  come  opposite  to  his  residence, 
which  was  on  a  part  of  the  coast  a  little  farther  to  the  eastward. 
The  wind  preventing  an  immediate  compliance  with  this  invi¬ 
tation,  the  admiral  sent  the  notary  of  the  squadron,  with  sev¬ 
eral  of  the  crew,  to  visit  the  cacique.  He  resided  in  a  town  sit¬ 
uated  on  a  river,  at  what  they  called  Punta  Santa,  at  present 
Grande  Riviere.  It  was  the  largest  and  best  built  town  they 
had  yet  seen.  The  cacique  received  them  in  a  kind  of  public 
square,  which  had  been  swept  and  prepared  for  the  occasion, 
and  treated  them  with  great  honor,  giving  to  each  a  dress  of 
cotton.  The  inhabitants  crowded  round  them,  bringing  provi¬ 
sions  and  refreshments  of  various  kinds.  The  seamen  were  re¬ 
ceived  into  their  houses  as  distinguished  guests ;  they  gave  them 
garments  of  cotton,  and  whatever  else  appeared  to  have  value 
in  their  eyes,  asking  nothing  in  return,  but  if  anything  were 
given  appearing  to  treasure  it  up  as  a  sacred  relic. 

The  cacique  would  have  detained  them  all  night,  but  their 
orders  obliged  them  to  return.  On  parting  with  them  he  gave 
them  presents  of  parrots  and  pieces  of  gold  for  the  admiral,  and 
they  were  attended  to  their  boats  by  a  crowd  of  the  natives, 
carrying  the  presents  for  them,  and  vying  with  each  other  in 
rendering  them  service. 

During  their  absence  the  admiral  had  been  visited  by  a  great 
number  of  canoes  and  several  inferior  caciques :  all  assured  him 
that  the  island  abounded  with  wealth ;  they  talked,  especially, 
of  Cibao,  a  region  in  the  interior,  farther  to  the  east,  the  cacique 
of  which,  as  far  as  the;?  could  bt  understood,  had  banners  of 
wrought  gold.  Columbus,  deceiving  himself  as  usual,  fancied 
that  this  name  Cibao  must  be  a  corruption  of  Cipango,  and  that 


146 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


this  chieftain  with  golden  banners  must  be  identical  with  the 
magnificent  prince  of  that  island,  mentioned  by  Marco  Polo.* 


CHAPTER  VEX 

SHIPWRECK. 

[1492.] 

On  the  morning  of  the  24th  of  December  Columbus  set  sail 
from  Port  St.  Thomas  before  sunrise,  and  steered  to  the  east¬ 
ward,  with  an  intention  of  anchoring  at  the  harbor  of  the  cacique 
Guacanagari.  The  wind  was  from  the  land,  but  so  light  as 
scarcely  to  fill  the  sails,  and  the  ships  made  but  little  progress. 
At  eleven  o’clock  at  night,  being  Christmas  eve,  they  were 
within  a  league  or  a  league  and  a  half  of  the  residence  of  the 
cacique ;  and  Columbus,  who  had  hitherto  kept  watch,  finding 
the  sea  calm  and  smooth,  and  the  ship  almost  motionless,  re¬ 
tired  to  rest,  not  having  slept  the  preceding  night.  He  was,  in 
general,  extremely  wakeful  on  his  coasting  voyages,  passing 
whole  nights  upon  deck  in  all  weathers ;  never  trusting  to  the 
watchfulness  of  others,  where  there  was  any  difficulty  or  danger 
to  be  provided  against.  In  the  present  instance  he  felt  per¬ 
fectly  secure ;  not  merely  on  account  of  the  profound  calm,  but 
because  the  boats  on  the  preceding  day,  in  their  visit  to  the 
cacique,  had  reconnoitred  the  coast,  and  had  reported  that 
there  were  neither  rocks  nor  shoals  in  their  course. 

No  sooner  had  he  retired  than  the  steersman  gave  the  helm 
hi  charge  to  one  of  the  ship-boys,  and  went  to  sleep.  This  was 
in  direct  violation  of  an  invariable  order  of  the  admiral,  that 
the  helm  should  never  be  intrusted  to  the  boys.  The  rest  of 
the  mariners  who  had  the  watch  took  like  advantage  of  the 
absence  of  Columbus,  and  in  a  little  while  the  whole  crew  was 
buried  in  sleep.  In  the  mean  time  the  treacherous  currents 
which  run  swiftly  along  this  coast  carried  the  vessel  quietly, 
but  with  force,  upon  a  sand-bank.  The  heedless  boy  had  not 
noticed  the  breakers,  although  they  made  a  roaring  that  might 
have  been  heard  a  league.  No  sooner,  however,  did  he  feel  the 


*  Journal  of  Columb.  Navarrete,  Colec.,  tom.  i.  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  82. 
Herrera,  decad.  i.  lib.  i.  cap.  15, 16. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


147 


rudder  strike,  and  hear  the  tumult  of  the  rushing  sea,  than  he 
began  to  cry  for  aid.  Columbus,  whose  careful  thoughts  never 
permitted  him  to  sleep  profoundly,  was  the  first  on  deck.  The 
master  of  the  ship,  whose  duty  it  was  to  have  been  on  watch, 
next  made  his  appearance,  followed  by  others  of  the  crew,  half 
awake.  The  admiral  ordered  them  to  take  the  boat  and  carry 
out  an  anchor  astern,  to  warp  the  vessel  off.  The  master  and 
the  sailors  sprang  into  the  boat ;  but,  confused,  as  men  are  apt 
to  be  when  suddenly  awakened  by  an  alarm,  instead  of  obey¬ 
ing  the  commands  of  Columbus,  they  rowed  off  to  the  other 
caravel,  about  half  a  league  to  windward. 

In  the  mean  time  the  master  had  reached  the  caravel,  and 
made  known  the  perilous  state  in  which  he  had  left  the  vessel. 
He  was  reproached  with  his  pusillanimous  desertion ;  the  com¬ 
mander  of  the  caravel  manned  his  boat  and  hastened  to  the 
relief  of  the  admiral,  followed  by  the  recreant  master,  covered 
with  shame  and  confusion. 

It  was  too  late  to  save  the  ship,  the  current  having  set  her 
more  upon  the  bank.  The  admiral,  seeing  that  his  boat  had 
deserted  him,  that  the  ship  had  swung  across  the  stream,  and 
that  the  water  was  continually  gaining  upon  her,  ordered  the 
mast  to  be  cut  away,  in  the  hope  of  lightening  her  sufficiently 
to  float  her  off.  Every  effort  was  in  vain.  The  keel  was  firm¬ 
ly  bedded  in  the  sand;  the  shock  had  opened  several  seams; 
while  the  swell  of  the  breakers,  striking  her  broadside,  left  her 
each  moment  more  and  more  aground,  until  she  fell  over  on 
one  side.  Fortunately  the  weather  continued  calm,  otherwise 
the  ship  must  have  gone  to  pieces,  and  the  whole  crew  might 
have  perished  amid  the  currents  and  breakers. 

The  admiral  and  her  men  took  refuge  on  board  the  caravel. 
Diego  de  Arana,  chief  judge  of  the  armament,  and  Pedro  Gu¬ 
tierrez,  the  king’s  butler,  were  immediately  sent  on  shore  as 
envoys  to  the  cacique  Guacanagari,  to  inform  him  of  the  in¬ 
tended  visit  of  the  admiral,  and  of  his  disastrous  shipwreck. 
In  the  mean  time,  as  a  light  wind  had  sprung  up  from  shore, 
and  the  admiral  was  ignorant  of  his  situation,  and  of  the  rocks 
and  banks  that  might  be  lurking  around  him,  he  lay  to  until 
daylight. 

The  habitation  of  the  cacique  was  about  a  league  and  a  half 
from  the  wreck.  When  he  heard  of  the  misfortune  of  his 
guest,  he  manifested  the  utmost  affliction,  and  even  shed  tears. 
He  immediately  sent  all  his  people,  with  all  the  canoes,  large 
and  small,  that  could  be  mustered ;  and  so  active  were  they  in 


148 


LIFE  OF  CnUISTOPUER  COLUMBUS. 


their  assistance,  that  in  a  little  while  the  vessel  was  unloaded. 
The  cacique  himself,  and  his  brothers  and  relatives,  rendered 
all  the  aid  in  their  power,  both  on  sea  and  land,  keeping  vigi¬ 
lant  guard  that  every  thing  should  he  conducted  with  order,  and 
the  property  secured  from  injury  or  theft.  From  time  to  time 
ho  sent  some  one  of  his  family,  or  some  principal  person  of  his 
attendants,  to  console  and  cheer  the  admiral,  assuring  him  that 
everything  he  possessed  should  he  at  his  disposal. 

Never,  in  a  civilized  country,  were  the  vaunted  rights  of 
hospitality  more  scrupulously  observed  than  by  this  unculti¬ 
vated  savage.  All  the  effects  landed  from  the  ships  were  de¬ 
posited  near  his  dwelling,  and  an  armed  guard  surrounded 
them  all  night,  until  houses  could  be  prepared  in  which  to  store 
them.  There  seemed,  however,  even  among  the  common  peo¬ 
ple,  no  disposition  to  take  advantage  of  the  misfortune  of  the 
stranger.  Although  they  beheld  what  must  in  their  eyes  have 
been  inestimable  treasures,  cast,  as  it  were,  upon  their  shores, 
and  open  to  depredation,  yet  there  was  not  the  least  attempt  to 
pilfer,  nor,  in  transporting  the  effects  from  the  ships,  had  they 
appropriated  the  most  trifling  article.  On  the  contrary,  a  gene¬ 
ral  sympathy  was  visible  in  their  countenances  and  actions; 
and  to  have  witnessed  their  concern,  one  would  have  supposed 
the  misfortune  to  have  happened  to  themselves.* 

“  So  loving,  so  tractable,  so  peaceable  are  these  people,”  says 
Columbus  in  his  journal,  “that  I  swear  to  your  majesties, 
there  is  not  in  the  world  a  better  nation,  nor  a  better  land. 
They  love  their  neighbors  as  themselves ;  and  their  discourse 
is  ever  sweet  and  gentle,  and  accompanied  with  a  smile ;  and 
though  it  is  true  that  they  are  naked,  yet  their  manners  are 
decorous  and  praiseworthy.” 


CHAPTER  IX. 

TRANSACTIONS  WITH  THE  NATIVES. 

[1492.] 

On  the  26th  of  December  Guacanagari  came  on  board  of  the 
caravel  Nina  to  visit  the  admiral,  and  observing  him  to  be  very 
much  dejected  was  moved  to  tears.  He  repeated  the  message 


*  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  32.  Las  Casas,  lib.  i.  cap.  9. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


149 


which  he  had  sent,  entreating  Columbus  not  to  be  cast  down 
by  his  misfortune,  and  ottering  everything  that  he  possessed, 
that  might  render  him  aid  or  consolation.  He  had  already 
given  three  houses  to  shelter  the  Spaniards,  and  to  receive  the 
effects  landed  from  the  wreck,  and  he  offered  to  furnish  more 
if  necessary. 

While  they  were  conversing,  a  canoe  arrived  from  another 
part  of  the  island,  bringing  pieces  of  gold  to  be  exchanged  for 
hawks’  bells.  There  was  nothing  7  pon  which  the  natives  set 
so  much  value  as  upon  these  toys.  The  Indians  were  extrava¬ 
gantly  fond  of  the  dance,  which  they  performed  to  the  cadence 
of  certain  songs,  accompanied  by  the  sound  of  a  kind  of  drum, 
made  from  the  trunk  of  a  tree,  and  the  rattling  of  hollow  bits 
of  wood ;  but  when  they  hung  the  hawks’  bells  about  their  per¬ 
sons,  and  heard  the  clear  musical  sound  responding  to  the 
movements  of  the  dance,  nothing  could  exceed  their  wild  de¬ 
light. 

The  sailors  who  came  from  the  shore  informed  the  admiral 
that  considerable  quantities  of  gold  had  been  brought  to  barter, 
and  large  pieces  were  eagerly  given  for  the  merest  trifle. 
This  information  had  a  cheering  effect  upon  Columbus.  The 
attentive  cacique,  perceiving  the  lighting  up  of  his  countenance, 
asked  what  the  sailors  had  communicated.  When  he  learned 
its  purport,  and  found  that  the  admiral  was  extremely  desirous 
of  procuring  gold,  he  assured  him  by  signs,  that  there  was  a 
place  not  far  off,  among  the  mountains,  where  it  abounded  to 
such  a  degree  as  to  be  held  in  little  value,  and  promised  to  pro¬ 
cure  him  thence  as  much  as  he  desired.  The  place  to  which  he 
alluded,  and  which  he  called  Cibao,  was  in  fact  a  mountainous 
region  afterward  found  to  contain  valuable  mines;  but  Colum¬ 
bus  still  confounded  the  name  with  that  of  Cipango.* 

Guacanagari  dined  on  board  of  the  caravel  with  the  admiral, 
after  which  he  invited  him  to  visit  his  residence.  Here  he  had 
prepared  a  collation,  as  choice  and  abundant  as  his  simple 
means  afforded,  consisting  of  utias,  or  coneys,  fish,  roots,  and 
various  fruits.  He  did  everything  in  his  power  to  honor  his 
guest,  and  cheer  him  under  his  misfortune,  showing  a  warmth 
of  sympathy  yet  delicacy  of  attention,  which  could  not  have 
been  expected  from  his  savage  state.  Indeed  there  was  a  de¬ 
gree  of  innate  dignity  and  refinement  displayed  in  his  manners, 
that  often  surprised  the  Spaniards.  He  was  remarkably  nice 


*  Primer  Viage  de  Colon,  Nav&rrete,  torn.  i.  p.  114. 


150 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


and  decorous  in  his  mode  of  eating,  which  was  slow  and  with 
moderation,  washing  his  hands  when  be  had  finished,  and  rub¬ 
bing  them  with  sweet  and  odoriferous  herbs,  which  Columbus 
supposed  was  done  to  preserve  their  delicacy  and  softness. 
He  was  served  with  great  deference  by  his  subjects,  and  com 
ducted  himself  toward  them  with  a  gracious  and  prince-like 
majesty.  His  whole  depoitment,  in  the  enthusiastic  eyes  oi 
Columbus,  betokened  the  inborn  grace  and  dignity  of  lofty 
lineage.* 

In  fact,  the  sovereignty  among  the  people  of  this  island  was 
hereditary,  and  they  had  a  simple  but  sagacious  mode  of  main¬ 
taining,  in  some  degree,  the  verity  of  descent.  On  the  death  of 
a  cacique  without  children,  his  authority  passed  to  those  of  his 
sisters,  in  preference  to  those  of  his  brothers,  being  considered 
most  likely  to  be  of  his  blood;  for  they  observed,  that  a 
brother’s  reputed  children  may  by  accident  have  no  consanguin¬ 
ity  with  their  uncle ;  but  those  of  his  sister  must  certainly  be  the 
children  of  their  mother.  The  form  of  government  was  com¬ 
pletely  despotic ;  the  caciques  had  entire  control  over  the  lives, 
the  property ,  and  even  the  religion  of  their  subjects.  They  had 
few  laws,  and  ruled  according  to  their  judgment  and  their  will  ; 
but  they  ruled  mildly,  and  were  implicitly  and  cheerfully 
obeyed.  Throughout  the  courso  of  the  disastrous  history  of 
these  islanders,  after  their  discovery  by  the  Europeans,  there 
are  continual  proofs  of  their  affectionate  and  devoted  fidelity  to 
their  caciques. 

After  the  collation,  Guacanagari  conducted  Columbus  to  the 
beautiful  groves  which  surrounded  his  residence.  They  were 
attended  by  upward  of  a  thousand  of  the  natives,  all  perfectly 
naked,  who  performed  several  national  games  and  dances, 
which  Guacanagari  had  ordered,  to  amuse  the  melancholy  of 
his  guest. 

When  the  Indians  had  finished  their  games,  Columbus  gave 
them  an  entertainment  in  return,  calculated  at  the  same  time 
to  impress  them  with  a  formidable  idea  of  the  military  power 
of  the  Spaniards.  He  sent  on  board  the  caravel  for  a  Moorish 
bow  and  a  quiver  of  arrows,  and  a  Castilian  who  had  served  in 
the  wars  of  Granada,  and  was  skilful  in  the  use  of  them. 
When  the  cacique  beheld  the  accuracy  with  which  this  man 
used  his  weapons,  he  was  greatly  surprised,  being  himself  of 


*  Las  Casas,  lib.  i.  cap.  70,  ics.  Primer  Viage  de  Colon,  Navarrete,  tom.  i.  p. 
114. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


151 


an  unwarlike  character,  and  little  accustomed  to  the  use  of 
arms.  He  told  the  admiral  that  the  Caribs,  who  often  made 
descents  upon  his  territory,  and  carried  off  his  subjects,  were 
likewise  armed  with  hows  and  arrows.  Columbus  assured 
him  of  the  protection  of  the  Castilian  monarchs,  who  would 
destroy  the  Caribs,  for  he  let  him  know  that  he  had  weapons 
far  more  tremendous,  against  which  there  was  no  defence.  In 
proof  of  this,  he  ordered  a  Lombard  or  heavy  cannon,  and  an 
arquebus,  to  be  discharged. 

On  hearing  the  report  the  Indians  fell  to  the  ground,  as 
though  they  had  been  struck  by  a  thunderbolt ;  and  when  they 
saw  the  effect  of  the  ball,  rending  and  shivering  the  trees  like 
a  stroke  of  lightning,  they  were  filled  with  dismay.  Being 
told,  however,  that  the  Spaniards  would  defend  them  with 
these  arms  against  their  dreaded  enemies  the  Caribs,  their 
alarm  was  changed  into  exultation,  considering  themselves 
under  the  protection  of  the  sons  of  heaven,  who  had  come  from 
the  skies  armed  with  thunder  and  lightning. 

The  cacique  now  presented  Columbus  with  a  mask  carved  of 
wood,  with  the  eyes,  ears,  and  various  other  parts  of  gold ;  he 
hung  plates  of  the  same  metal  round  his  neck,  and  placed  a 
kind  of  golden  coronet  upon  his  head.  He  dispensed  presents 
also  among  the  followers  of  the  admiral ;  acquitting  himself  in 
all  things  with  a  munificence  that  would  have  done  honor  to  an 
accomplished  prince  in  civilized  life. 

Whatever  trifles  Columbus  gave  in  return  were  regarded 
with  reverence  as  celestial  gifts.  The  Indians,  in  admiring  the 
articles  of  European  manufacture,  continually  repeated  the 
word  turey,  which  in  their  language  signifies  heaven.  They  pre¬ 
tended  to  distinguish  the  different  qualities  of  gold  by  the  smell ; 
in  the  same  way,  when  any  article  of  tin,  of  silver,  or  other 
white  metal  was  given  them,  to  which  they  were  unaccustomed, 
they  smelt  it  and  declared  it  ‘ £  turey,  ”  of  excellent  quality ; 
giving  in  exchange  pieces  of  the  finest  gold.  Everything,  in 
fact,  from  the  hands  of  the  Spaniards,  even  a  rusty  piece  of 
iron,  an  end  of  a  strap,  or  a  head  of  a  nail,  had  an  occult  and 
supernatural  value,  and  smelt  of  turey.  Hawks’  bells,  how¬ 
ever,  were  sought  by  them  with  a  mania  only  equalled  by  that 
of  the  Spaniards  for  gold.  They  could  not  contain  their  ecsta¬ 
sies  at  the  sound,  dancing  and  playing  a  thousand  antics.  On 
one  occasion  an  Indian  gave  half  a  handful  of  gold  dust  in  ex¬ 
change  for  one  of  these  toys,  and  no  sooner  was  he  in  posses¬ 
sion  of  it  than  he  bounded  away  to  the  woods,  looking  often 


LIFE  OF  CHRLSTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


1S2 

behind  him,  fearing  the  Spaniards  might  repent  of  having 
parted  so  cheaply  with  such  an  inestimable  jewel.* 

The  extreme  kindness  of  the  cacique,  the  gentleness  of  his 
people,  the  quantities  of  gold  which  were  daily  brought  to  be  ex 
changed  for  the  veriest  trifles,  and  the  information  continually 
received  of  sources  of  wealth  in  the  interior  of  this  island,  all 
contributed  to  console  the  admiral  for  his  misfortune. 

The  shipwrecked  crew,  also,  became  fascinated  with  theii 
easy  and  idle  mode  of  life.  Exempted  by  their  simplicity  from 
the  cares  and  toils  which  civilized  man  inflicts  upon  himself 
by  his  many  artificial  wants,  the  existence  of  these  islanders 
seemed  to  the  Spaniards  like  a  pleasant  dream.  They  dis¬ 
quieted  themselves  about  nothing.  A  few  fields,  cultivated  al¬ 
most  without  labor,  burnished  the  roots  and  vegetables  which 
formed  a  great  part  of  their  diet.  Their  rivers  and  coasts, 
abounded  with  fish ;  their  trees  were  laden  with  fruits  of  golden 
or  blushing  hue,  and  heightened  by  a  tropical  sun  to  delicious 
flavor  and  fragrance.  Softened  by  the  indulgence  of  nature, 
and  by  a  voluptuous  climate,  a  great  part  of  their  day  was 
passed  in  indolent  repose,  and  in  tlie  evenings  thev  danced  in 
their  fragrant  groves,  to  their  national  songs,  or  the  sound  of 
their  sylvan  drums. 

Such  was  the  indolent  and  holiday  life  of  these  simple  people ; 
which,  if  it  had  not  the  great  scope  of  enjoyment,  nor  the  liigh- 
seasoned  poignancy  of  pleasure  which  attend  civilization,  was 
certainly  destitute  of  most  of  its  artificial  miseries.  The  ven¬ 
erable  Las  Casas,  speaking  of  their  perfect  nakedness,  observes, 
it  seemed  almost  as  if  they  were  existing  in  the  state  of  prime¬ 
val  innocence  of  our  first  parents,  before  their  fall  brought  sin 
into  the  world.  He  might  have  added,  that  they  seemed  ex¬ 
empt  likewise  from  the  penalty  inflicted  on  the  children  of 
Adam,  that  they  should  earn  their  bread  by  the  sweat  of  their 
brow. 

When  the  Spanish  mariners  looked  back  upon  their  own 
toilsome  and  painful  life,  and  reflected  on  the  cares  and  hard¬ 
ships  that  must  still  be  their  lot  if  they  returned  to  Europe,  it 
is  no  wonder  that  they  regarded  with  a  wistful  eye  the  easy 
and  idle  existence  of  these  Indians.  Wherever  they  went  they 
met  with  caressing  hospitality.  The  men  were  simple,  frank, 
and  cordial ;  the  women  loving  and  compliant,  and  prompt  to 
form  those  connections  which  anchor  the  most  wandering 


*  Las  Casas,  lib.  i.  cap.  70,  ms. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS,  153 

heart.  They  saw  gold  glittering  around  them,  to  be  had  with¬ 
out  labor,  and  every  enjoyment  to  be  procured  without  cost. 
Captivated  by  these  advantages,  many  of  the  seamen  repre¬ 
sented  to  the  admiral  the  difficulties  and  sufferings  they  must 
encounter  on  a  return  voyage,  where  so  many  would  be 
crowded  in  a  small  caravel,  and  entreated  permission  to  re 
main  in  the  island.* 


CHAPTER  X. 

BUILDING  OF  THE  FORTRESS  OF  LA  NAVIDAD. 

[1492.] 


The  solicitude  expressed  by  many  of  his  people  to  be  left  be¬ 
hind,  added  to  the  friendly  and  pacific  character  of  the  natives, 
now  suggested  to  Columbus  the  idea  of  forming  the  germ  of  a 
future  colony.  The  wreck  of  the  caravel  would  afford  mate¬ 
rials  to  construct  a  fortress,  which  might  be  defended  by  her 
guns  and  supplied  with  her  ammunition ;  and  he  could  spare 
provisions  enough  to  maintain  a  small  garrison  for  a  year. 
The  people  who  thus  remained  on  the  island  could  explore  it, 
and  make  themselves  acquainted  with  its  mines,  and  other 
sources  of  wealth ;  they  might,  at  the  same  time,  procure  by 
traffic  a  large  quantity  of  gold  from  the  natives ;  they  could 
learn  their  language,  and  accustom  themselves  to  their  habits 
and  manners,  so  as  to  be  of  great  use  in  future  intercourse. 
In  the  mean  time  the  admiral  could  return  to  Spain,  report  the 
success  of  his  enterprise,  and  bring  out  reinforcements. 

No  sooner  did  this  idea  break  upon  the  mind  of  Columbus 
than  he  set  about  accomplishing  it  with  his  accustomed  prompt¬ 
ness  and  celerity.  The  wreck  was  broken  up  and  brought 
piecemeal  to  shore ;  and  a  site  chosen,  and  preparations  made 
for  the  erection  of  a  tower.  When  Guacanagari  was  informed 
of  the  intention  of  the  admiral  to  leave  a  part  of  his  men  for 
the  defence  of  the  island  from  the  Caribs,  while  he  returned  to 
his  country  for  more,  he  was  greatly  overjoyed.  His  subjects 
manifested  equal  delight  at  the  idea  of  retaining  these  wonder- 


*  Primer  Viage  de  Colon.  Navarrete.  tom.  i.  p.  11@» 


154 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


ful  people  among  them,  and  at  the  prospect  of  the  future  arri¬ 
val  of  the  admiral,  with  ships  freighted  with  hawks’  bells  and 
other  precious  articles.  They  eagerly  lent  their  assistance  in 
building  the  fortress,  little  dreaming  that  they  were  assisting 
to  place  on.  their  necks  the  galling  yoke  of  perpetual  and  toil¬ 
some  slavery. 

The  preparations  for  the  fortress  were  scarcely  commenced 
when  certain  Indians,  arriving  at  the  harbor,  brought  a  report 
that  a  great  vessel,  like  those  of  the  admiral,  had  anchored  in 
a  river  at  the  eastern  end  of  the  island.  These  tidings,  for  a 
time,  dispelled  a  thousand  uneasy  conjectures  which  had  har¬ 
assed  the  mind  of  Columbus,  for  of  course  this  vessel  could  be 
no  other  than  the  Pinta.  He  immediately  procured  a  canoe 
from  Guacanagari,  with  several  Indians  to  navigate  it,  and  dis¬ 
patched  a  Spaniard  with  a  letter  to  Pinzon,  couched  in  ami¬ 
cable  terms,  making  no  complaints  of  his  desertion,  hut  urging 
him  to  join  company  immediately. 

After  three  days’  absence  the  canoe  returned.  The  Spaniard 
reported  that  he  had  pursued  the  coast  for  twenty  leagues,  but 
had  neither  seen  nor  heard  anything  of  the  Pinta ;  he  consid¬ 
ered  the  report,  therefore,  as  incorrect.  Other  rumors,  how¬ 
ever,  were  immediately  afterward  circulated  at  the  harbor  of 
this  large  vessel  to  the  eastward;  but,  on  investigation,  they 
appeared  to  Columbus  to  be  equally  undeserving  of  credit.  He 
relapsed,  therefore,  into  his  doubts  and  anxieties  in  respect  to 
Pinzon.  Since  the  shipwreck  of  his  vessel,  the  desertion  of 
that  commander  had  become  a  matter  of  still  more  serious  mo¬ 
ment,  and  had  obliged  him  to  alter  all  his  plans.  Should  the 
Pinta  he  lost,  as  was  very  possible  in  a  voyage  of  such  extent 
and  exposed  to  so  many  uncommon  perils,  there  would  then  be 
but  one  ship  surviving  of  the  three  which  had  set  sail  from 
Palos,  and  that  one  an  indifferent  sailer.  On  the  precarious 
return  of  that  crazy  hark,  across  an  immense  expanse  of  ocean, 
would  depend  the  ultimate  success  of  the  expedition.  Should 
that  one  likewise  perish,  every  record  of  this  great  discovery 
would  he  swallowed  up  with  it ;  the  name  of  Columbus  would 
only  be  remembered  as  that  of  a  mad  adventurer,  who,  despis¬ 
ing  the  opinions  of  the  learned  and  the  counsels  of  the  wise, 
had  departed  into  the  wilds  of  the  ocean  never  to  return ;  the 
obscurity  of  his  fate,  and  its  imagined  horrors,  might  deter  all 
future  enterprise,  and  thus  the  new  world  might  remain,  as 
heretofore,  unknown  to  civilized  man.  These  considerations 
determined  Columbus  to  abandon  all  further  prosecution  of 


LIFE  OF  CURISTOPnEE  COLUMBUS. 


1 55 


his  voyage ;  to  leave  unexplored  the  magnificent  regions  which 
were  inviting  him  on  every  hand ;  to  give  up  all  hope  for  the 
present  of  finding  his  way  to  the  dominions  of  the  Grand 
Khan,  and  to  lose  no  time  in  returning  to  Spain  and  reporting 
his  discovery. 

While  the  fortress  was  building,  he  continued  to  receive 
every  day  new  proofs  of  the  amity  and  kindness  of  Guacana- 
gari.  Whenever  he  went  on  shore  to  superintend  the  works, 
he  was  entertained  in  the  most  hospitable  manner  by  that 
chieftain.  He  had  the  largest  house  in  the  place  prepared  for 
his  reception,  strewed  or  carpeted  with  palm-leaves,  and  fur¬ 
nished  with  low  stools  of  a  black  and  shining  wood  that  looked 
like  jet.  When  ho  received  the  admiral,  it  was  always  in  a 
style  of  princely  generosity,  hanging  around  his  neck  some 
jewel  of  gold,  or  making  him  some  present  of  similar  value. 

On  one  occasion,  he  came  to  meet  him  on  his  landing,  attend¬ 
ed  by  five  tributary  caciques,  each  carrying  a  coronet  of  gold ; 
they  conducted  him  with  great  deference  to  the  house  already 
mentioned,  where,  seating  him  in  one  of  the  chairs,  Guacana- 
gari  took  off  his  own  coronet  of  gold  and  placed  it  upon  his 
head :  Columbus  in  return  took  from  his  neck  a  collar  of  fine- 
colored  beads,  which  he  put  round  that  of  the  cacique ;  he  in¬ 
vested  him  with  his  own  mantle  of  fine  cloth,  gave  him  a  pair 
of  colored  boots,  and  put  on  his  finger  a  large  silver  ring, 
upon  which  metal  the  Indians  set  a  great  value,  it  not  being 
found  in  their  island. 

The  cacique  exerted  himself  to  the  utmost  to  procure  a  great 
quantity  of  gold  for  the  admiral  before  his  departure  for  Spain. 
The  supplies  thus  furnished,  and  the  vague  accounts  collected 
through  the  medium  of  signs  and  imperfect  interpretations, 
interpretations,  gave  Columbus  magnificent  ideas  of  the  wealth 
in  the  interior  of  this  island.  The  names  of  caciques,  moun¬ 
tains,  and  provinces,  were  confused  together  in  his  imagina¬ 
tion,  and  supposed  to  mean  various  places  where  great  treas¬ 
ure  was  to  be  found;  above  all,  the  name  of  Cibao  continually 
occurred,  the  golden  region  among  the  mountains,  whence  the 
natives  procured  most  of  the  ore  for  their  ornaments.  In  the 
pimento  or  red  pepper  which  abounded  in  the  island,  he  fan¬ 
cied  he  found  a  trace  of  oriental  spices,  and  he  thought  he 
had  met  with  specimens  of  rhubarb. 

Passing,  with  his  usual  excitability,  from  a  state  of  doubt  and 
anxiety  to  one  of  sanguine  anticipation,  he  now  considered  his 
shipwreck  as  a  providential  event  mysteriously  ordained  by 


156 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


Heaven  to  work  out  the  success  of  his  enterprise.  Without 
this  seeming  disaster,  he  should  never  have  remained  to  find 
out  the  secret  wealth  of  the  island,  but  should  merely  have 
touched  at  various  parts  of  the  coast,  and  passed  on.  As  a 
proof  that  the  particular  hand  of  Providence  was  exerted  in 
it,  he  cites  the  circumstance  of  his  having  been  wrecked  in  a 
perfect  calm,  without  wind  or  wave,  and  the  desertion  of  the 
pilot  and  mariners,  when  sent  to  carry  out  an  anchor  astern, 
for,  had  they  performed  his  orders,  the  vessel  would  have  been 
hauled  off,  they  would  have  pursued  their  voyage,  and  the 
treasures  of  the  island  would  have  remained  a  secret.  But 
now  he  looked  forward  to  glorious  fruits  to  be  reaped  from 
this  seeming  evil;  “  for  he  hoped,”  he  said,  “  that  when  he  re¬ 
turned  from  Spain,  he  should  find  a  ton  of  gold  collected  in 
traffic  by  those  whom  he  had  left  behind,  and  mines  and  spices 
discovered  in  such  quantities  that  the  sovereigns,  before  three 
years,  would  be  able  to  undertake  a  crusade  for  the  deliver¬ 
ance  of  the  holy  sepulchre;”  the  grand  object  to  which  he  had 
proposed  that  they  should  dedicate  the  fruits  of  this  enterprise. 

Such  was  the  visionary,  yet  generous,  enthusiasm  of  Colum¬ 
bus,  the  moment  that  prospects  of  vast  wealth  broke  upon 
his  mind.  What  in  some  spirits  would  have  awakened  a  grasp¬ 
ing  and  sordid  avidity  to  accumulate,  immediately  filled  his 
imagination  with  plans  of  magnificent  expenditure.  But  how 
vain  are  our  attempts  to  interpret  the  inscrutable  decrees  of 
Providence!  The  shipwreck,  which  Columbus  considered  an 
act  of  divine  favor,  to  reveal  to  him  the  secrets  of  the  land, 
shackled  and  limited  all  his  after  discoveries.  It  linked  his  for¬ 
tunes,  for  the  remainder  of  his  life,  to  this  island,  which  was 
doomed  to  be  to  him  a  source  of  cares  and  troubles,  to  involve 
him  in  a  thousand  perplexities,  and  to  becloud  his  declining 
years  with  humiliation  and  disappointment. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

REGULATION  OF  THE  FORTRESS  OF  LA  NAVIDAD — DEPARTURE  OF 

COLUMBUS  FOR  SPAIN. 

So  great  was  the  activity  of  the  Spaniards  in  the  construction 
of  their  fortress,  and  so  ample  the  assistance  rendered  by  the 
natives,  that  in  ten  days  it  was  sufficiently  complete  for  ser- 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS . 


157 


vice.  A  large  vault  had  been  made,  over  which  was  erected 
a  strong  wooden  tower,  and  the  whole  was  surrounded  by  a 
wide  ditch.  It  was  stored  with  all  the  ammunition  saved 
from  the  wreck,  or  that  could  be  spared  from  the  caravel; 
and  the  guns  being  mounted,  the  whole  had  a  formidable 
aspect,  sufficient  to  overawe  and  repulse  this  naked  and  un- 
warlike  people.  Indeed  Columbus  was  of  opinion  that  but 
little  force  was  necessary  to  subjugate  the  whole  island.  He 
considered  a  fortress,  and  the  restrictions  of  a  garrison,  more 
requisite  to  keep  the  Spaniards  themselves  in  order,  and  pre¬ 
vent  their  wandering  about,  and  committing  acts  of  licentious¬ 
ness  among  the  natives. 

The  fortress  being  finished,  he  gave  it,  as  well  as  the  adjacent 
village  and  the  harbor,  the  name  of  La  Navidad,  or  the  Nativ¬ 
ity,  in  memorial  of  their  having  escaped  from  the  shipwreck 
on  Christmas  day.  Many  volunteered  to  remain  on  the  island, 
from  whom  he  selected  thirty-nine  of  the  most  able  and  exem¬ 
plary,  and  among  them  a  physician,  ship-carpenter,  calker, 
cooper,  tailor,  and  gunner,  all  expert  at  their  several  callings. 
The  command  was  given  to  Diego  de  Arana,  a  native  of  Cor¬ 
dova,  and  notary  and  alguazil  to  the  armament,  who  was  to  re¬ 
tain  all  the  powers  vested  in  him  by  the  Catholic  sovereigns. 
In  case  of  his  death,  Pedro  Gutierrez  was  to  command,  and,  he 
dying,  Rodrigo  de  Escobedo.  The  boat  of  the  wreck  was  left 
with  them,  to  be  used  in  fishing;  a  variety  of  seeds  to  sow,  and 
a  large  quantity  of  articles  for  traffic,  that  they  might  procure 
as  much  gold  as  possible  against  the  admiral’s  return.* 

As  the  time  drew  nigh  for  his  departure,  Columbus  assem¬ 
bled  those  who  were  to  remain  in  the  island,  and  made  them 
an  earnest  address,  charging  them,  in  the  name  of  the  sove¬ 
reigns,  to  be  obedient  to  the  officer  left  in  command ;  to  main¬ 
tain  the  utmost  respect  and  reverence  for  the  cacique  Guaca- 
nagari  and  his  chieftains,  recollecting  how  deeply  they  were 
indebted  to  his  goodness,  and  how  important  a  continuance  of 
it  was  to  their  welfare.  To  be  circumspect  in  their  intercourse 
with  the  natives,  avoiding  disputes,  and  treating  them  always 
with  gentleness  and  justice ;  and,  above  all,  being  discreet  in 
their  conduct  toward  the  Indian  women,  misconduct  in  this 
respect  being  the  frequent  source  of  troubles  and  disasters  in 
the  intercourse  with  savage  nations.  He  warned  them,  more¬ 
over,  not  to  scatter  themselves  asunder,  but  to  keep  together, 


♦  Primer  Viage  de  Colon.  Navarrete,  tom.  i.  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  S8. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS . 


ir>8 

for  mutual  safety ;  and  not  to  stray  beyond  the  friendly  terri¬ 
tory  of  Guacanagari.  He  enjoined  it  upon  Arana,  and  tlio 
others  in  command,  to  acquire  a  kmowlege  of  the  productions 
and  mines  of  the  island,  to  procure  gold  and  spices,  and  to  seek 
dong  the  coast  a  better  situation  for  a  settlement,  the  present 
harbor  being  inconvenient  and  dangerous,  from  the  rocks  and 
shoals  which  beset  its  entrance. 

On  the  2d  of  January,  1493,  Columbus  landed  to  take  a  fare¬ 
well  of  the  generous  cacique  and  his  chieftains,  intending  the 
next  day  to  set  sail.  He  gave  them  a  parting  feast  at  the  house 
devoted  to  his  use,  and  commended  to  their  kindness  the  men 
who  were  to  remain,  especially  Diego  de  Arana,  Pedro  Gutier¬ 
rez,  and  Rodrigo  de  Escobedo,  his  lieutenants,  assuring  the 
cacique  that  when  he  returned  from  Castile  he  would  bring 
abundance  of  jewels  more  precious  than  any  he  or  his  people 
had  yet  seen.  The  worthy  Guacanagari  showed  great  concern 
at  the  idea  of  his  departure,  and  assured  him  that,  as  to  those 
who  remained,  he  should  furnish  them  with  provisions,  and 
render  them  every  service  in  his  power. 

Once  more  to  impress  the  Indians  with  an  idea  of  the  warlike 
prowess  of  the  white  men,  Columbus  caused  the  crews  to  per¬ 
form  skirmishes  and  mock-fights,  with  swords,  bucklers,  lances, 
cross-bows,  arquebuses,  and  cannon.  The  Indians  were  aston¬ 
ished  at  the  keenness  of  the  swords,  and  at  the  deadly  power  of 
the  cross-bows  and  arquebuses ;  but  they  were  struck  with  awe 
when  the  heavy  Lombards  were  discharged  from  the  fortress, 
wrapping  it  in  wreaths  of  smoke,  shaking  the  forests  with  their 
report,  and  shivering  the  trees  with  the  balls  of  stone  used  in 
artillery  in  those  times.  As  these  tremendous  powers,  how¬ 
ever,  were  all  to  be  employed  for  their  protection,  they  rejoiced 
while  they  trembled,  since  no  Carib  would  now  dare  to  invade 
their  island.* 

The  festivities  of  the  day  being  over,  Columbus  embraced  the 
cacique  and  his  principal  chieftains,  and  took  a  final  leave  of 
them.  Guacanagari  shed  tears ;  for  while  he  had  been  awed  by 
the  dignified  demeanor  of  the  admiral  ,  and  the  idea  of  his  super¬ 
human  nature,  he  had  been  completely  won  by  the  benignity  of 
his  manners.  Indeed,  the  parting  scene  was  sorrowful  on  all 
sides.  The  arrival  of  the  ships  had  been  an  event  of  wonder  and 
excitement  to  the  islanders,  who  had  as  yet  known  nothing  but 
the  good  qualities  of  their  guests,  and  had  been  enriched  by  their 


*  Primer  Viage  de  Colon*  Navarre te,  tom.  i.  p.  121. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


159 


celestial  gifts ;  while  the  rude  seamen  had  been  flattered  by  the 
blind  deference  paid  them,  and  captivated  by  the  kindness  and 
unlimited  indulgence  with  which  they  had  been  treated. 

The  sorest  parting  was  between  the  Spaniards  who  embarked 
and  those  who  remained  behind,  from  the  strong  sympathy 
caused  by  companionship  in  perils  and  adventures.  The  little 
garrison,  however,  evinced  a  stout  heart,  looking  forward  to 
the  return  of  the  admiral  from  Spain  with  large  reinforcements, 
when  they  promised  to  give  him  a  good  account  of  all  things  in 
the  island.  The  caravel  was  detained  a  day  longer  by  the  ab¬ 
sence  of  some  of  the  Indians  whom  they  were  to  take  to  Spain. 
At  length  the  signal-gun  was  fired ;  the  crew  gave  a  parting 
cheer  to  the  handful  of  comrades  thus  left  in  the  wilderness  of 
an  unknown  world,  who  echoed  their  cheering  as  they  gazed 
wistfully  after  them  from  the  beach,  but  who  were  destined 
never  to  welcome  their  return. 

Note  about  the  localities  in  the  preceding  chapter ,  extracted  from  the  letter  of  T. 

S.  Heneken ,  Esq. 

Guacanagari’s  capital  town  was  called  Guarico.  From  the  best  information  I 
can  gather,  it  was  situated  a  short  distance  from  the  beach,  where  the  village  of 
Petit  Anse  now  stands;  which  is  about  two  miles  south-east  of  Cape  Haytien. 

Oviedo  says  that  Columbus  took  in  water  for  his  homeward  voyage  from  a  small 
stream  to  the  north-west  of  the  anchorage;  and  presuming  him  to  have  been  at 
anchor  off  Petit  Anse,  this  stream  presents  itself  falling  from  the  Picolet  mountain, 
crossing  the  present  town  of  Cape  Haytien,  and  emptying  into  the  bay  near  the 
Arsenal. 

The  stream  which  supplied  Columbus  with  water  was  dammed  up  at  the  foot  of 
the  mountain  by  the  French  when  in  possession  of  the  country,  and  its  water  now 
feeds  a  number  of  public  fountains. 

Punta  Santa  could  be  no  other  than  the  present  Point  Picolet. 

Beating  up  from  St.  Nicholas  Mole  along  an  almost  precipitous  and  iron-bound 
coast,  a  prospect  of  uni’i vailed  splendor  breaks  upon  the  view  on  turning  this  point; 
the  spacious  bay,  the  extensive  plains,  and  the  distant  cordilleras  of  the  Cibao  moun¬ 
tains,  impose  upon  the  mind  an  impression  of  vastness,  fertility,  and  beauty. 

The  fort  of  La  Navidad  must  have  been  erected  near  Haut  du  Cap,  as  it  could  be 
approached  in  boats  by  rowing  up  the  river,  and  there  is  no  other  river  in  the  vicin¬ 
ity  that  admits  a  passage  for  boats. 

The  locality  of  the  town  of  Guacanagari  has  always  been  known  by  the  name  of 
Guarico.  The  French  first  settled  at  Petit  Anse;  subsequently  they  removed  to  the 
opposite  side  of  the  bay  and  founded  the  town  of  Cape  Frangais,  now  Cape  Haytien ; 

but  the  old  Indian  name  Guarico  continues  in  use  among  all  the  Spanish  inhabitants 

of  the  vicinity. 


BOOK  V. 


CHAPTER  I. 

COASTING  TOWARD  THE  EASTERN  END  OF  HISPANIOLA — MEETING 

WITH  PINZON  —  AFFAIR  WITH  THE  NATIVES  AT  THE  GULF  OF 
-  SAMANA. 

[1493.] 

It  was  on  the  4th  of  January  that  Columbus  set  sail  from  La 
Navidad  on  his  return  to  Spain.  The  wind  being  light,  it  was 
necessary  to  tow  the  caravel  out  of  the  harbor,  and  clear  of  the 
reefs.  They  then  stood  eastward,  toward  a  lofty  promontory 
destitute  of  trees,  but  covered  with  grass,  and  shaped  like  a  tent, 
having  at  a  distance  the  appearance  of  a  towering  island,  being 
connected  with  Hispaniola  by  a  low  neck  of  land.  To  this  pro¬ 
montory  Columbus  gave  the  name  of  Monte  Christi,  by  which 
it  is  still  known.  The  country  in  the  immediate  neighborhood 
was  level,  but  farther  inland  rose  a  high  range  of  mountains, 
well  wooded,  with  broad,  fruitful  valleys  between  them,  watered 
by  abundant  streams.  The  wind  being  contrary,  they  were  de¬ 
tained  for  two  days  in  a  large  bay  to  the  west  of  the  promontory. 
On  the  6th  they  again  made  sail  with  a  land  breeze,  and  weath¬ 
ering  the  cape,  advanced  ten  leagues,  when  the  wind  again 
turned  to  blow  freshly  from  the  east.  At  this  time  a  sailor,  sta¬ 
tioned  at  the  masthead  to  look  out  for  rocks,  cried  out  that  he 
beheld  the  Pinta  at  a  distance.  The  certainty  of  the  fact  glad¬ 
dened  the  heart  of  the  admiral,  and  had  an  animating  effect 
throughout  the  ship ;  for  it  was  a  joyful  event  to  the  mariners 
once  more  to  meet  with  their  comrades,  and  to  have  a  compan¬ 
ion  bark  in  their  voyage  through  these  lonely  seas. 

The  Pinta  came  sweeping  toward  them,  directly  before  the 
wind.  The  admiral  was  desirous  of  having  a  conversation  with 
Martin  Alonzo  Pinzon,  and  seeing  that  all  attempt  was  fruitless 
from  the  obstinacy  of  the  adverse  wind,  and  that  there  was  no 
safe  anchorage  in  the  neighborhood,  he  put  back  to  the  bay  a 
little  west  of  Monte  Christi,  whither  he  was  followed  by  the 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


161 


Pinta.  On  their  first  interview,  Pinzon  endeavored  to  excuse 
his  desertion,  alleging  that  he  had  been  compelled  to  part  com¬ 
pany  by  stress  of  weather,  and  had  ever  since  been  seeking  to 
rejoin  the  admiral.  Columbus  listened  passively  but  dubiously 
to  his  apologies ;  and  the  suspicions  he  had  conceived  appeared 
to  be  warranted  by  subsequent  information.  He  was  told  that 
Pinzon  had  been  excited  by  accounts  given  him  by  one  of  the 
Indians  on  board  of  his  vessel  of  a  region  to  the  eastward, 
abounding  in  gold.  Taking  advantage,  therefore,  of  the  supe¬ 
rior  sailing  of  his  vessel,  he  had  worked  to  windward,  when  the 
other  ships  had  been  obliged  to  put  back,  and  had  sought  to  be 
the  first  to  discover  and  enjoy  this  golden  region.  After  sepa¬ 
rating  from  his  companions  he  had  been  entangled  for  several 
days  among  a  cluster  of  small  islands,  supposed  to  have  been 
the  Caicos,  but  had  at  length  been  guided  by  the  Indians  to  His¬ 
paniola.  Here  he  remained  three  weeks,  trading  with  the  na¬ 
tives  in  the  river  already  mentioned,  and  collected  a  considera¬ 
ble  quantity  of  gold,  one  half  of  which  he  retained  as  captain, 
the  rest  he  divided  among  his  men  to  secure  their  fidelity  and. 
secrecy. 

Such  were  the  particulars  privately  related  to  Columbus ;  who, 
however,  repressed  his  indignation  at  this  flagrant  breach  of 
duty,  being  unwilling  to  disturb  the  remainder  of  his  voyage 
with  any  altercations  with  Pinzon,  who  had  a  powerful  party 
of  relatives  and  townsmen  in  the  armament.  To  such  a  degree, 
however,  was  his  confidence  in  his  confederates  impaired,  that 
he  determined  to  return  forthwith  to  Spain,  though,  under 
other  circumstances,  he  would  have  been  tempted  to  explore 
the  coast  in  hopes  of  freighting  his  ships  with  treasure,  * 

The  boats  were  accordingly  dispatched  to  a  large  river  in  the 
neighborhood,  to  procure  a  supply  of  wood  and  water  for  the 
voyage.  This  river,  called  by  the  natives  the  Yaqui,  flows  from 
the  mountains  of  the  interior  and  throws  itself  into  the  bay,  re¬ 
ceiving  in  its  course  the  contributions  of  various  minor  streams. 
Many  particles  of  gold  were  perceived  among  the  sands  at  its 
mouth,  and  others  were  found  adhering  to  the  hoops  of  the  wa¬ 
ter-casks.  f  Columbus  gave  it,  therefore,  the  name  of  Pio  del 
Oro,  or  the  Golden  Eiver ;  it  is  at  present  called  the  Santiago. 

In  this  neighborhood  were  turtles  of  great  size.  Columbus 


*  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  34. 

t  Las  Casas  suggests  that  these  may  have  been  particles  of  marcasite,  which 
abounds  in  this  river,  and  in  the  other  streams  which  fall  from  the  mountains  of 
©bao.  Las  Casas,  Hist.  Ind.,  lib.  i.  cap.  76. 


162 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


also  mentions  in  his  journal  that  he  saw  three  mermaids,  which 
elevated  themselves  above  the  surface  of  the  sea,  and  he  ob¬ 
serves  that  he  had  before  seen  such  on  the  coast  of  Africa.  He 
adds  that  they  were  by  no  means  the  beautiful  beings  they  had 
been  represented,  although  they  possessed  some  traces  of  the 
human  countenance.  It  is  supposed  that  these  must  have  been 
manati  or  sea-calves,  seen  indistinctly  and  at  a  distance ;  and 
that  the  imagination  of  Columbus,  disposed  to  give  a  wonderful 
character  to  everything  in  this  new  world,  h  ad  identified  these 
misshapen  animals  with  the  sirens  of  ancient  story. 

On  the  evening  of  the  9th  of  January  they  again  made  sail, 
and  on  the  following  day  arrived  at  the  river  where  Pinzon  had 
been  trading,  to  which  Columbus  gave  the  name  of  Rio  de 
Gracia;  but  it  took  the  appellation  of  its  original  discoverer,  and 
long  continued  to  be  known  as  the  river  of  Martin  Alonzo.* 
The  natives  of  this  place  complained  that  Pinzon,  on  his  pre¬ 
vious  visit,  had  violently  carried  off  four  men  and  two  girls. 
The  admiral,  finding  they  were  retained  on  board  of  the  Pinta 
to  be  carried  to  Spain  and  sold  as  slaves,  ordered  them  to  be  im¬ 
mediately  restored  to  their  homes,  with  many  presents,  and  well 
clothed,  to  atone  for  the  wrong  they  had  experienced.  This 
restitution  was  made  with  great  unwillingness  and  many  high 
words  on  the  part  of  Pinzon. 

The  wind  being  favorable,  for  in  these  regions  the  trade  wind 
is  often  alternated  during  autumn  and  winter  by  north-westerly 
breezes,  they  continued  coasting  the  island  until  they  came  to 
a  high  and  beautiful  headland,  to  which  they  gave  the  name  of 
Capo  del  Enamorado,  or  the  Lovers’  Cape,  but  which  at  present 
is  known  as  Cape  Cabron.  A  little  beyond  this  they  anchored 
in  a  bay,  or  rather  gulf,  three  leagues  in  breadth,  and  extending 
so  far  inland  that  Columbus  at  first  supposed  it  an  arm  of  the 
sea,  separating  Hispaniola  from  some  other  land.  On  landing 
they  found  the  natives  quite  different  from  the  gentle  and  pa¬ 
cific  people  hitherto  met  with  on  this  island.  They  were  of  a 
ferocious  aspect,  and  hideously  painted.  Their  hair  was  long, 
tied  behind,  and  decorated  with  the  feathers  of  parrots  and  othei 
birds  of  gaudy  plumage.  Some  were  armed  with  war-clubs, 
others  had  bows  of  the  length  of  those  used  by  the  English  arch, 
ers,  with  arrows  of  slender  reeds,  pointed  with  hard  wood,  oi 
tipped  with  bone  or  the  tooth  of  a  fish.  Their  swords  were  of 


*  It  is  now  called  Porto  Caballo,  but  the  surrounding  plain  is  called  the  Savanna 
of  Martin  Alonxo. — T.  S.  Heneken. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


163 


palm-wood,  as  hard  and  heavy  as  iron ;  not  sharp,  but  broad, 
nearly  of  the  thickness  of  two  fingers,  and  capable,  with  one 
blow,  of  cleaving  through  a  helmet  to  the  very  brains.  *  Though 
thus  prepared  for  combat,  they  made  no  attempt  to  molest  the 
Spaniards ;  on  the  contrary,  they  sold  them  two  of  their  bows 
and  several  of  their  arrows,  and  one  of  them  was  prevailed  upon 
to  go  on  board  of  the  admiral’s  ship. 

Columbus  was  persuaded,  from  the  ferocious  looks  and 
hardy,  undaunted  manner  of  this  wild  warrior,  that  he  and 
his  companions  were  of  the  nation  of  Caribs,  so  much  dreaded 
throughout  these  seas,  and  that  the  gulf  in  which  he  was 
anchored  must  be  a  strait  separating  their  island  from  Hispa¬ 
niola.  On  inquiring  of  the  Indian,  however,  he  still  pointed  to 
the  east  as  the  quarter  where  lay  the  Caribbean  Islands.  He 
spoke  also  of  an  island,  called  Mantinino,  which  Columbus  fan¬ 
cied  him  to  say  was  peopled  merely  by  women,  who  received 
the  Caribs  among  them  once  a  year,  for  the  sake  of  continuing 
the  population  of  their  island.  All  the  male  progeny  result¬ 
ing  from  such  visits  were  delivered  to  the  fathers ;  the  female 
remained  with  the  mothers. 

This  Amazonian  island  is  repeatedly  mentioned  in  the  course 
of  the  voyages  of  Columbus,  and  is  another  of  his  self-delusions, 
to  be  explained  by  the  work  of  Marco  Polo.  That  traveller  de¬ 
scribed  two  islands  near  the  coast  of  Asia,  one  inhabited  solely 
by  women,  the  other  by  men,  between  which  a  similar  inter¬ 
course  subsisted;!  and  Columbus,  supposing  himself  in  that 
vicinity,  easily  interpreted  the  signs  of  the  Indians  to  coincide 
with  the  descriptions  of  the  Venetian. 

Having  regaled  the  warrior,  and  made  him  various  presents, 
the  admiral  sent  him  on  shore,  in  hopes,  through  his  media¬ 
tion,  of  opening  a  trade  for  gold  with  his  companions.  As  the 
boat  approached  the  land,  upward  of  fifty  savages,  armed  with 
bows  and  arrows,  war-clubs,  and  javelins,  were  seen  lurking 
among  the  trees.  On  a  word  from  the  Indian  who  was  in  the 
boat,  they  laid  by  their  arms  and  came  forth  to  meet  the  Span¬ 
iards.  The  latter,  according  to  directions  from  the  admiral, 
endeavored  to  purchase  several  of  their  weapons,  to  take  as 
curiosities  to  Spain.  They  parted  with  two  of  their  bows ;  but, 
suddenly  conceiving  some  distrust,  or  thinking  to  overpower 
this  handful  of  strangers,  they  rushed  to  the  place  where  they 


*  Las  Casas,  Hist.  Ind.,  lib.  i.  cap.  77,  ms. 
t  Marco  Polo,  book  iii.  chap.  34;  Eng.  edit,  of  Marsden. 


164 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


had  left  their  weapons,  snatched  them  up,  and  returned  with 
cords,  as  if  to  hind  the  Spaniards.  The  latter  immediately  at* 
tacked  them,  wounded  two,  put  the  rest  to  flight,  and  would 
have  pursued  them,  but  were  restrained  by  the  pilot  who  com¬ 
manded  the  boat.  This  was  the  first  contest  with  the  Indians, 
and  the  first  time  that  native  blood  was  shed  by  the  white  men 
in  the  new  world.  Columbus  was  grieved  to  see  all  his  exer¬ 
tions  to  maintain  an  amicable  intercourse  vain;  he  consoled 
himself  with  the  idea,  however,  that  if  these  were  Caribs,  or 
frontier  Indians  of  warlike  character,  they  would  be  inspired 
with  a  dread  of  the  force  and  weapons  of  the  white  men,  and 
be  deterred  from  molesting  the  little  garrison  of  Fort  Nativity. 
The  fact  was,  that  these  were  of  a  bold  and  hardy  race,  in¬ 
habiting  a  mountainous  district  called  Ciguay,  extending  five 
and  twenty  leagues  along  the  coast,  and  several  leagues  into 
the  interior.  They  differed  in  language,  look,  and  manners 
from  the  other  natives  of  the  island,  and  had  the  rude  but  in¬ 
dependent  and  vigorous  character  of  mountaineers. 

Their  frank  and  bold  spirit  was  evinced  on  the  day  after  the 
skirmish,  when  a  multitude  appearing  on  the  beach,  the  admi¬ 
ral  sent  a  large  party,  well  armed,  on  shore  in  the  boat.  The 
natives  approached  as  freely  and  confidently  as  if  nothing  had 
happened;  neither  did  they  betray,  throughout  their  subse¬ 
quent  intercourse,  any  signs  of  lurking  fear  or  enmity.  The 
cacique  who  ruled  over  the  neighboring  country  was  on  the 
shore.  He  sent  to  the  boat  a  string  of  beads  formed  of  small 
stones,  or  rather  of  the  hard  part  of  shells,  which  the  Spaniards 
understood  to  be  a  token  and  assurance  of  amity;  but  they 
were  not  yet  aware  of  the  full  meaning  of  this  symbol,  the 
wampum  belt,  the  pledge  of  peace,  held  sacred  among  the  In¬ 
dians.  The  chieftain  followed  shortly  after,  and  entering  the 
boat  with  only  three  attendants,  was  conveyed  on  board  of  the 
caravel. 

This  frank  and  confiding  conduct,  so  indicative  of  a  brave 
and  generous  nature,  was  properly  appreciated  by  Columbus ; 
he  received  the  cacique  cordially,  set  before  him  a  collation 
such  as  the  caravel  afforded,  particularly  biscuits  and  honey, 
which  were  great  dainties  with  the  Indians,  and  after  showing 
him  the  wonders  of  the  vessel,  and  making  him  and  his  atten¬ 
dants  many  presents,  sent  them  to  land  highly  gratified.  The 
residence  of  the  cacique  was  at  such  a  distance  that  he  could 
not  repeat  his  visit ;  but,  as  a  token  of  high  regard,  he  sent  to 
the  admiral  his  coronet  of  gold.  In  speaking  of  these  mci- 


LIFE  OF  CHIlISTOPnER  COLUMBUS. 


165 


dents,  the  historians  of  Columbus  have  made  no  mention  of  the 
name  of  this  mountain  chief ;  he  was  doubtless  the  same  who, 
a  few  years  afterward,  appears  in  the  history  of  the  island 
under  the  name  of  Mayonabex,  cacique  of  the  Ciguayans,  and 
will  be  found  acquitting  himself  with  valor,  frankness,  and 
magnanimity,  under  the  most  trying  circumstances. 

Columbus  remained  a  day  or  two  longer  in  the  bay,  during 
which  time  the  most  friendly  intercourse  prevailed  with  the 
natives,  who  brought  cotton,  and  various  fruits  and  vegetables, 
but  still  maintained  their  warrior  character,  being  always 
armed  with  bows  and  arrows.  Four  young  Indians  gave  such 
interesting  accounts  of  the  islands  situated  to  the  east  that 
Columbus  determined  to  touch  there  on  his  way  to  Spain,  and 
prevailed  on  them  to  accompany  him  as  guides.  Taking  ad¬ 
vantage  of  a  favorable  wind,  therefore,  he  sailed  before  day¬ 
light  on  the  16th  of  January  from  this  bay,  to  which,  in  conse¬ 
quence  of  the  skirmish  with  the  natives,  he  gave  the  name  of 
Golfo  de  las  Flechas,  or  the  Gulf  of  Arrows,  but  which  is  now 
known  by  the  name  of  the  Gulf  of  Samana. 

On  leaving  the  bay,  Columbus  at  first  steered  to  the  north¬ 
east,  in  which  direction  the  young  Indians  assured  him  he 
would  find  the  island  of  the  Caribs,  and  that  of  Mantinino,  the 
abode  of  the  Amazons ;  it  being  his  desire  to  take  several  of  the 
natives  of  each,  to  present  to  the  Spanish  sovereigns.  After 
sailing  about  sixteen  leagues,  however,  his  Indian  guides 
changed  their  opinion,  and  pointed  to  the  south-east.  This 
would  have  brought  him  to  Porto  Pico,  which,  in  fact,  was 
known  among  the  Indians  as  the  island  of  Carib.  The  admiral 
immediately  shifted  sail,  and  stood  in  this  direction.  He  had 
not  proceeded  two  leagues,  however,  when  a  most  favorable 
breeze  sprang  up  for  the  voyage  to  Spain.  He  observed  a 
gloom  gathering  on  the  countenances  of  the  sailors,  as  they 
diverged  from  the  homeward  route.  Reflecting  upon  the  little 
hold  he  had  upon  the  feelings  and  affections  of  these  men,  the 
insubordinate  spirit  they  had  repeatedly  evinced,  the  uncer¬ 
tainty  of  the  good  faith  of  Pinzon,  and  the  leaky  condition  of 
his  ships,  he  was  suddenly  brought  to  a  pause.  As  long  as  he 
protracted  his  return,  the  whole  fate  of  his  discovery  was  at 
the  mercy  of  a  thousand  contingencies,  and  an  adverse  acci¬ 
dent  might  bury  himself,  his  crazy  barks,  and  all  the  records 
of  his  voyage  forever  in  the  ocean.  Repressing,  therefore,  the 
strong  inclination  to  seek  further  discoveries,  and  determined 
to  place  what  he  had  already  made  beyond  the  reach  of  accf 


166 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS . 


dent,  he  once  more  shifted  sail,  to  the  great  joy  of  his  crews, 
and  resumed  his  course  for  Spain.* 


CHAPTER  n. 

RETURN  VOYAGE— VIOLENT  STORMS— ARRIVAL  AT  THE  AZORES. 

[1493.] 


The  trade-winds  which  had  heen  so  propitious  to  Columbus 
on  his  outward  voyage,  were  equally  adverse  to  him  on  his  re  - 
turn.  The  favorable  breeze  soon  died  away,  and  throughout 
the  remainder  of  January  there  was  a  prevalence  of  light  winds 
from  the  eastward,  which  prevented  any  great  progress.  He 
was  frequently  detained  also  by  the  bad  sailing  of  the  Pinta, 
the  foremast  of  which  was  so  defective  that  it  could  carry  but 
little  sail.  The  weather  continued  mild  and  pleasant,  and  the 
sea  so  calm,  that  the  Indians  whom  they  were  taking  to  Spain 
would  frequently  plunge  into  the  water  and  swim  about  the 
ships.  They  saw  many  tunny  fish,  one  of  which  they  killed,  as 
likewise  a  large  shark ;  these  gave  them  a  temporary  supply  of 
provisions,  of  which  they  soon  began  to  stand  in  need,  their 
sea  stock  being  reduced  to  bread  and  wine  and  Agi  peppers, 
which  last  they  had  learnt  from  the  Indians  to  use  as  an  impor¬ 
tant  article  of  food. 

In  the  early  part  of  February,  having  run  to  about  the  thirty- 
eighth  degree  of  north  latitude,  and  got  out  of  the  track  swept 
by  the  trade-winds,  they  had  more  favorable  breezes,  and  were 
enabled  to  steer  direct  for  Spain.  From  the  frequent  changes 
of  their  course,  the  pilots  became  perplexed  in  their  reckon¬ 
ings,  differing  widely  among  themselves,  and  still  more  widely 
from  the  truth.  Columbus,  besides  keeping  a  careful  reckon^ 
ing,  was  a  vigilant  observer  of  those  indications  furnished  by 
the  sea,  the  air,  and  the  sky ;  the  fate  of  himself  and  his  ships  in 
the  unknown  regions  which  he  traversed  often  depended  upon 
these  observations ;  and  the  sagacity  at  which  he  arrived,  in 
deciphering  the  signs  of  the  elements,  was  looked  upon  by  the 
common  seamen  as  something  almost  supernatural,  in  the 


*  Journal  of  Columb.  Navarrete,  tom.  i.  Las  Casas,  Hist.  Ind.,  lib.  i.  cap.  77 
Hist.  del.  Almirante*  cap.  34.  35. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


167 


present  instance,  he  noticed  where  the  great  bands  of  floating 
weeds  commenced,  and  where  they  finished ;  and  in  emerging 
from  among  them,  concluded  himself  to  be  in  the  same  degree 
of  longitude  as  when  he  encountered  them  on  his  outward  voy¬ 
age  ;  that  is  to  say,  about  260  leagues  west  of  Ferro.  On  the 
10th  of  February,  Vicente  Yanes  Pinzon,  and  the  pilots  Ruiz 
and  Bartolomeo  Roldan,  who  were  on  board  of  the  admiral’s 
ship,  examined  the  charts  and  compared  their  reckonings  to 
determine  their  situation,  but  could  not  come  to  any  agree¬ 
ment.  They  all  supposed  themselves  at  least  one  hundred  and 
fifty  leagues  nearer  Spain  than  what  Columbus  believed  to  be 
the  true  reckoning,  and  in  the  latitude  of  Madeira,  whereas  he 
knew  them  to  be  nearly  in  a  direction  for  the  Azores.  He  suf¬ 
fered  them,  however,  to  remain  in  their  error,  and  even  added 
to  their  perplexity,  that  they  might  retain  but  a  confused  idea 
of  the  voyage,  and  he  alone  possess  a  clear  knowledge  of  the 
route  to  the  newly-discovered  countries  * 

On  the  12th  of  February,  as  they  were  flattering  themselves 
with  soon  coming  in  sight  of  land,  the  wind  came  on  to  blow 
violently,  with  a  heavy  sea ;  they  still  kept  their  course  to  the 
east,  but  with  great  labor  and  peril.  On  the  following  day,  after 
sunset,  the  wind  and  swell  increased ;  there  were  three  flashes 
of  lightning  in  the  north-north-east,  considered  by  Columbus  as 
signals  of  an  approaching  tempest.  It  soon  burst  upon  them 
with  frightful  violence;  their  small  and  crazy  vessels,  open 
and  without  decks,  were  little  fitted  for  the  wild  storms  of  the 
Atlantic ;  all  night  they  were  obliged  to  scud  under  bare  poles. 
As  the  morning  dawned  of  the  14th,  there  was  a  transient 
pause,  and  they  made  a  little  sail;  but  the  wind  rose  again 
from  the  south  with  redoubled  vehemence,  raging  throughout 
the  day,  and  increasing  in  fury  in  the  night;  while  the  vessels 
labored  terribly  in  a  cross  sea,  the  broken  waves  of  which 
threatened  at  each  moment  to  overwhelm  them  or  dash  them 
to  pieces.  For  three  hours  they  lay  to,  with  just  sail  enough 
to  keep  them  above  the  waves ;  but  the  tempest  still  augment¬ 
ing,  they  were  obliged  again  to  scud  before  the  wind.  The 
Pinta  was  soon  lost  sight  of  in  the  darkness  of  the  night.  The 
admiral  kept  as  much  as  possible  to  the  north-east,  to  approach 
the  coast  of  Spain,  and  made  signal  lights  at  the  masthead  for 
the  Pinta  to  do  the  same,  and  to  keep  in  company.  The  latter, 


*  Las  Casas,  Hist.  Ind.,  lib.  i.  cap.  70. 


168 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


however,  from  the  weakness  of  her  foremast,  couTd  not  hold 
the  wind,  and  was  obliged  to  scud  before  it  directly  north. 
For  some  time  she  replied  to  the  signals  of  the  admiral,  but 
her  lights  gleamed  more  and  more  distant,  until  they  ceased 
entirely,  and  nothing  more  was  seen  of  her. 

Columbus  continued  to  scud  all  night,  full  of  forebodings  of 
the  fate  of  his  own  vessel,  and  of  fears  for  the  safety  of  that  of 
Pinzon.  As  the  day  dawned,  the  sea  presented  a  frightful 
waste  of  wild  broken  waves,  lashed  into  fury  by  the  gale ;  he 
looked  round  anxiously  for  the  Pinta,  but  she  was  nowhere  to 
be  seen.  He  now  made  a  little  sail,  to  keep  his  vessel  ahead  of 
the  sea,  lest  its  huge  waves  should  break  over  her.  As  the 
sun  rose,  the  wind  and  the  waves  rose  with  it,  and  throughout 
a  dreary  day  the  helpless  bark  was  driven  along  by  the  fury  of 
the  tempest. 

Seeing  all  human  skill  baffled  and  confounded,  Columbus 
endeavored  to  propitiate  heaven  by  solemn  vows  and  acts  of 
penance.  By  his  orders,  a  number  of  beans,  equal  to  the  num¬ 
ber  of  persons  on  board,  were  put  into  a  cap,  on  one  of  which 
was  cut  the  sign  of  the  cross.  Each  of  the  crew  made  a  vow 
that  should  he  draw  forth  the  marked  bean  he  would  make  a 
pilgrimage  to  the  shrine  of  Santa  Maria  de  Guadalupe,  bearing 
a  wax  taper  of  five  pounds’  weight.  The  admiral  was  the  first 
to  put  in  his  hand,  and  the  lot  fell  upon  him.  From  that  mo¬ 
ment  he  considered  himself  a  pilgrim,  bound  to  perform  the 
vow.  Another  lot  was  cast  in  the  same  way,  for  a  prilgrimage 
to  the  chapel  of  our  Lady  of  Loretto,  which  fell  upon  a  seaman 
named  Pedro  de  Villa,  and  the  admiral  engaged  to  bear  the 
expenses  of  his  journey.  A  third  lot  was  also  cast  for  a  pil¬ 
grimage  to  Santa  Clara  de  Moguer,  to  perform  a  solemn  mass, 
and  to  watch  all  night  in  the  chapel,  and  this  likewise  fell 
upon  Columbus. 

The  tempest  still  raging  with  unabated  violence,  the  admiral 
and  all  the  mariners  made  a  vow,  that,  if  spared,  wherever 
they  first  landed,  they  would  go  in  procession  barefooted  and  in 
their  shirts,  to  offer  up  prayers  and  thanksgivings  in  some 
church  dedicated  to  the  Holy  Virgin.  Besides  these  general  acts 
of  propitiation,  each  one  made  his  private  vow,  binding  him¬ 
self  to  some  pilgrimage,  or  vigil,  or  other  rite  of  penitence  and 
thanksgiving  at  his  favorite  shrine.  The  heavens,  however, 
seemed  deaf  to  their  vows ;  the  storm  grew  still  more  wild  and 
frightful,  and  each  man  gave  himself  up  for  lost.  The  danger 
of  the  ship  was  augmented  by  the  want  of  ballast,  the  consump* 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


169 


tion  of  the  water  and  provisions  having  lightened  her  so  much 
that  she  rolled  and  tossed  about  at  the  mercy  of  the  waves. 
To  remedy  this,  and  to  render  her  more  steady,  the  admiral 
ordered  that  all  the  empty  casks  should  be  filled  with  sea- water, 
which  in  some  measure  gave  relief . 

During  this  long  and  awful  conflict  of  the  elements,  the  mind 
of  Columbus  was  a  prey  to  the  most  distressing  anxiety.  He 
feared  that  the  Pinta  had  foundered  in  the  storm.  In  such  case 
the  whole  history  of  his  discovery,  the  secret  of  the  New  World, 
depended  upon  his  own  feeble  bark,  and  one  surge  of  the  ocean 
might  bury  it  forever  in  oblivion.  The  tumult  of  his  thoughts 
may  be  judged  from  his  own  letter  to  the  sovereigns.  “  I  could 
have  supported  this  evil  fortune  with  less  grief,”  said  he,  “had 
my  person  alone  been  in  jeopardy,  since  I  am  a  debtor  for  my 
life  to  the  supreme  Creator,  and  have  at  other  times  been  within 
a  step  of  death.  But  it  was  a  cause  of  infinite  sorrow  and 
trouble  to  think  that,  after  having  been  illuminated  from  on 
high  with  faith  and  certainty  to  undertake  this  enterprise,  after 
having  victoriously  achieved  it,  and  when  on  the  point  of  con¬ 
vincing  my  opponents,  and  securing  to  your  highnesses  great 
glory  and  vast  increase  of  dominions,  it  should  please  the  divine 
Majesty  to  defeat  all  by  my  death.  It  would  have  been  more 
supportable  also,  had  I  not  been  accompanied  by  others  who 
had  been  drawn  on  by  my  persuasions,  and  who,  in  their  dis¬ 
tress,  cursed  not  only  the  hour  of  their  coming,  but  the  fear 
inspired  by  my  words  which  prevented  their  turning  back,  as 
they  had  at  various  times  determined.  Above  all,  my  grief 
was  doubled  when  I  thought  of  my  two  sons,  whom  I  had  left 
at  school  in  Cordova,  destitute,  in  a  strange  land,  without  any 
testimony  of  the  services  rendered  by  their  father,  which,  if 
known,  might  have  inclined  your  highnesses  to  befriend  them. 
And  although,  on  the  one  hand,  I  was  comforted  by  faith  that 
the  Deity  would  not  permit  a  work  of  such  great  exaltation  to 
his  church,  wrought  through  so  many  troubles  and  contradic¬ 
tions,  to  remain  imperfect ;  yet,  on  the  other  hand,  I  reflected 
on  my  sins,  as  a  punishment  for  which  he  might  intend  that  I 
should  be  deprived  of  the  glory  which  would  redound  to  me  in 
this  world.”  * 

In  the  midst  of  these  gloomy  apprehensions,  an  expedient 
suggested  itself,  by  which,  though  he  and  his  ship  should  perish, 
the  glory  of  his  achievement  might  survive  to  his  name,  and  its 


*  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  36. 


170 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


advantages  be  secured  to  his  sovereigns.  He  wrote  on  parch- 
ment  a  brief  account  of  his  voyage  and  discovery,  and  of  his 
having  taken  possession  of  the  newly-found  lands  in  the  name 
of  their  Catholic  majesties.  This  he  sealed  and  directed  to  the 
king  and  queen ;  superscribing  a  promise  of  a  thousand  ducats 
to  whomsoever  should  deliver  the  packet  unopened.  He  then 
wrapped  it  in  a  waxed  cloth,  which  he  placed  in  the  centre  of 
a  cake  of  wax,  and  inclosing  the  whole  in  a  large  barrel,  threw  It 
into  the  sea,  giving  his  men  to  suppose  he  was  performing  some 
religious  vow.  Lest  this  memorial  should  never  reach  the  land, 
he  inclosed  a  copy  in  a  similar  manner,  and  placed  it  upon  the 
poop,  so  that,  should  the  caravel  be  swallowed  up  by  the  waves, 
the  barrel  might  float  off  and  survive. 

These  precautions  in  some  measure  mitigated  his  anxiety,  and 
he  was  still  more  relieved  when,  after  heavy  showers,  there  ap¬ 
peared  at  sunset  a  streak  of  clear  sky  in  the  west,  giving  hopes 
that  the  wind  was  about  to  shift  to  that  quarter.  These  hopes 
were  confirmed ;  a  favorable  breeze  succeeded,  but  the  sea  still 
ran  so  high  and  tumultuously  that  little  sail  could  be  carried 
during  the  night. 

On  the  morning  of  the  15th,  at  daybreak,  the  cry  of  land  was 
given  by  Rui  Garcia,  a  mariner  in  the  maintop.  The  trans¬ 
ports  of  the  crew,  at  once  more  gaining  sight  of  the  Old  World, 
were  almost  equal  to  those  experienced  on  first  beholding  the 
New.  The  land  bore  east-north-east,  directly  over  the  prow  of 
the  caravel ;  and  the  usual  diversity  of  opinion  concerning  it 
arose  among  the  pilots.  One  thought  it  the  island  of  Madeira ; 
another  the  rock  of  Cintra  near  Lisbon ;  the  most  part,  deceived 
by  their  ardent  wishes,  placed  it  near  Spain.  Columbus,  how¬ 
ever,  from  his  private  reckonings  and  observations,  concluded 
it  to  be  one  of  the  Azores.  A  nearer  approach  proved  it  to  be 
an  island ;  it  was  but  five  leagues  distant,  and  the  voyagers 
were  congratulating  themselves  upon  the  assurance  of  speedily 
being  in  port,  when  the  wind  veered  again  to  the  east-north¬ 
east,  blowing  directly  from  the  land,  while  a  heavy  sea  kept 
rolling  from  the  west. 

For  two  days  they  hovered  in  sight  of  the  island,  vainly  striv¬ 
ing  to  reach  it,  or  to  arrive  at  another  island  of  which  they 
caught  glimpses  occasionally  through  the  mist  and  rack  of  the 
tempest.  On  the  evening  of  the  17th  they  approached  so  near 
the  first  island  as  to  cast  anchor,  but  parting  their  cable,  had  to 
put  to  sea  again,  where  they  remained  beating  about  until  the 
following  morning,  when  they  anchored  under  shelter  of  its 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


171 


northern  side.  For  several  days  Columbus  had  been  in  such  a 
state  of  agitation  and  anxiety  as  scarcely  to  take  food  or  repose. 
Although  suffering  greatly  from  a  gouty  affection  to  which  he 
was  subject,  yet  he  had  maintained  his  watchful  post  on  deck, 
exposed  to  wintry  cold,  to  the  pelting  of  the  storm,  and  the 
drenching  surges  of  the  sea.  It  was  not  until  the  night  of  the 
17th  that  he  got  a  little  sleep,  more  from  the  exhaustion  of  na¬ 
ture  than  from  any  tranquillity  of  mind.  Such  were  the  diffi¬ 
culties  and  perils  which  attended  his  return  to  Europe ;  had  one 
tenth  part  of  them  beset  his  outward  voyage,  his  timid  and 
factious  crew  would  have  risen  in  arms  against  the  enterprise, 
and  he  never  would  have  discovered  the  New  World. 


CHAPTER  III. 

TRANSACTIONS  AT  THE  ISLAND  OF  ST.  MARY’S. 

[1493.] 

On  sending  the  boat  to  land,  Columbus  ascertained  the  island 
to  be  St.  Mary’s,  the  most  southern  of  the  Azores,  and  a  pos¬ 
session  of  the  crown  of  Portugal.  The  inhabitants,  when  they 
beheld  the  light  caravel  riding  at  anchor,  were  astonished  that 
it  had  been  able  to  live  through  the  gale,  which  had  raged  for 
fifteen  days  with  unexampled  fury ;  but  when  they  heard  from 
the  boat’s  crew  that  this  tempest-tossed  vessel  brought  tidings 
of  a  strange  country  beyond  the  ocean,  they  were  filled  with 
wonder  and  curiosity.  To  the  inquiries  about  a  place  where  the 
caravel  might  anchor  securely,  they  replied  by  pointing  out  a 
harbor  in  the  vicinity,  but  prevailed  on  three  of  the  mariners 
to  remain  on  shore,  and  gratify  them  with  further  particulars 
of  this  unparalleled  voyage. 

In  the  evening  three  men  of  the  island  hailed  the  caravel,  and 
a  boat  being  sent  for  them,  they  brought  on  board  fowls,  bread, 
and  various  refreshments,  from  Juan  de  Castaneda,  governor 
of  the  island,  who  claimed  an  acquaintance  with  Columbus,  and 
sent  him  many  compliments  and  congratulations.  He  apolo¬ 
gized  for  not  coming  in  person,  owing  to  the  lateness  of  the  hour 
and  the  distance  of  his  residence,  but  promised  to  visit  the  car¬ 
avel  the  next  morning,  bringing  further  refreshments,  and  the 


172 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


three  men,  whom  he  still  kept  with  him  to  satisfy  his  extreme 
curiosity  respecting  the  voyage.  As  there  were  no  houses  on 
the  neighboring  shore,  the  messengers  remained  on  board  all 
night. 

On  the  following  morning  Columbus  reminded  his  people  of 
their  vow  to  perform  a  pious  procession  at  the  first  place  whore 
they  should  land.  On  the  neighboring  shore,  at  no  great  dis¬ 
tance  from  the  sea,  was  a  small  hermitage  or  chapel  dedicated 
to  the  Virgin,  and  he  made  immediate  arrangements  for  the 
performance  of  the  rite.  The  three  messengers,  on  returning 
to  the  village,  sent  a  priest  to  perform  mass,  and  one  half  of  the 
crew  landing,  walked  in  procession,  barefooted,  and  in  their 
shirts,  to  the  chapel ;  while  the  admiral  awaited  their  return,  to 
perform  the  same  ceremony  with  the  remainder. 

An  ungenerous  reception,  however,  awaited  the  poor  tempest- 
tossed  mariners  on  their  first  return  to  the  abode  of  civilized 
men,  far  different  from  the  sympathy  and  hospitality  they  had 
experienced  among  the  savages  of  the  New  World.  Scarcely 
had  they  begun  their  prayers  and  thanksgivings,  when  the 
rabble  of  the  village,  horse  and  foot,  headed  by  the  governor, 
surrounded  the  hermitage  and  took  them  all  prisoners. 

As  an  intervening  point  of  land  hid  the  hermitage  from  the 
view  of  the  caravel,  the  admiral  remained  in  ignorance  of  this 
transaction.  When  eleven  o’clock  arrived  without  the  return 
of  the  pilgrims,  he  began  to  fear  that  they  were  detained  by  the 
Portuguese,  or  that  the  boat  had  been  shattered  upon  the  surf- 
beaten  rocks  which  bordered  the  island.  Weighing  anchor, 
therefore,  he  stood  in  a  direction  to  command  a  view  of  the 
chapel  and  the  adjacent  store ;  whence  he  beheld  a  number  of 
armed  horsemen,  who,  dismounting,  entered  the  boat  and  made 
for  the  caravel.  The  admiral’s  ancient  suspicions  of  Portuguese 
hostility  toward  himself  and  his  enterprises  were  immediately 
revived,  and  he  ordered  his  men  to  arm  themselves,  but  to  keep 
out  of  sight,  ready  either  to  defend  the  vessel  or  surprise  the 
boat.  The  latter,  however,  approached  in  a  pacific  manner; 
the  governor  of  the  island  was  on  board,  and,  coming  within 
hail,  demanded  assurance  of  personal  safety  in  case  he  should 
enter  the  caravel.  This  the  admiral  readily  gave,  but  the  Por¬ 
tuguese  still  continued  at  a  wary  distance.  The  indignation 
of  Columbus  now  broke  forth ;  he  reproached  the  governor  with 
his  perfidy,  and  with  the  wrong  he  did,  not  merely  to  the 
Spanish  monarchs,  but  to  his  own  sovereign,  by  such  a  dishon¬ 
orable  outrage.  He  informed  him  of  his  own  rank  and  dignity; 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


173 


displayed  his  letters  patent,  sealed  with  the  royal  seal  of  Castile, 
and  threatened  him  with  the  vengeance  of  his  government. 
Castaneda  replied  in  a  vein  of  contempt  and  defiance,  declar¬ 
ing  that  all  he  had  done  was  in  conformity  to  the  commands  of 
the  king  his  sovereign. 

A  fter  an  unprofitable  altercation,  the  boat  returned  to  shore, 
leaving  Columbus  much  perplexed  by  this  unexpected  hostility, 
and  fearful  that  a  war  might  have  broken  out  between  Spain, 
and  Portugal  during  his  absence.  The  next  day  the  weather 
became  so  tempestuous  that  they  were  driven  from  their  an¬ 
chorage,  and  obliged  to  stand  to  sea  toward  the  island  of  St. 
Michael.  For  two  days  the  ship  continued  beating  about  in 
great  peril,  half  of  her  crew  being  detained  on  shore,  and  the 
greater  part  of  those  on  board  being  landsmen  and  Indians, 
almost  equally  useless  in  difficult  navigation.  Fortunately, 
although  the  waves  ran  high,  there  were  none  of  those  cross 
seas  which  had  recently  prevailed,  otherwise,  being  so  feebly 
manned,  the  caravel  could  scarcely  have  lived  through  the 
storm. 

On  the  evening  of  the  22 d,  the  weather  having  moderated, 
Columbus  returned  to  his  anchorage  at  St.  Mary’s.  Shortly 
after  his  arrival,  a  boat  came  off,  bringing  two  priests  and  a 
notary.  After  a  cautious  parley  and  an  assurance  of  safety, 
they  came  on  board,  and  requested  a  sight  of  the  papers  of  Co¬ 
lumbus,  on  the  part  of  Castaneda,  assuring  him  that  it  was  the 
disposition  of  the  governor  to  render  him  every  service  in  his 
power,  provided  he  really  sailed  in  service  of  the  Spanish  sover¬ 
eigns.  Columbus  supposed  it  a  manoeuvre  of  Castaneda  to 
cover  a  retreat  from  the  hostile  position  he  had  assumed ;  re¬ 
straining  his  indignation,  however,  and  expressing  his  thanks 
for  the  friendly  disposition  of  the  governor,  he  showed  his  let¬ 
ters  of  commission,  which  satisfied  the  priests  and  the  notary. 
On  the  following  morning  the  boat  and  mariners  were  liberated. 
The  latter,  during  their  detention,  had  collected  information 
from  the  inhabitants  which  elucidated  the  conduct  of  Cas¬ 
taneda. 

The  King  of  Portugal,  jealous  lest  the  expedition  of  Colum¬ 
bus  might  interfere  with  his  own  discoveries,  had  sent  orders 
to  his  commanders  of  islands  and  distant  ports  to  seize  and  de¬ 
tain  him  wherever  he  should  be  met  with.*  In  compliance 
with  these  orders,  Castaneda  had,  in  the  first  instance,  hoped 


*  Hist,  del  Almiranti*  cap.  39.  Las  Casas,  Hist.  Ind,,  lib.  i.  cap.  73, 


174 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPH ER  COLUMBUS . 


to  surprise  Columbus  in  the  chapel,  and,  failing  in  that  attempt, 
had  intended  to  get  him  in  his  power  by  stratagem,  but  was 
deterred  by  finding  him  on  his  guard.  Such  was  the  first  re¬ 
ception  of  the  admiral  on  his  return  to  the  Old  World,  an  earn¬ 
est  oc  the  crosses  and  troubles  with  which  he  was  to  be  requited 
throughout  life,  for  one  of  the  greatest  benefits  that  ever  man 
conferred  upon  his  fellow-beings. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

ARRIVAL  AT  PORTUGAL— VISIT  TO  THE  COURT. 

[1493.] 

Columbus  remained  two  days  longer  at  the  island  of  St. 
Mary’s,  endeavoring  to  take  in  wood  and  ballast,  but  was  pre¬ 
vented  by  the  heavy  surf  which  broke  upon  the  shore.  The 
wind  veering  to  the  south,  and  being  dangerous  for  vessels  at 
anchor  off  the  island,  but  favorable  for  the  voyage  to  Spain,  ho 
set  sail  on  the  24th  of  February,  and  had  pleasant  weather 
until  the  27th,  when,  being  within  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
leagues  of  Cape  St.  Vincent,  he  again  encountered  contrary 
gales  and  a  boisterous  sea.  His  fortitude  was  scarcely  proof 
against  these  perils  and  delays,  which  appeared  to  increase,  the 
nearer  he  approached  his  home ;  and  he  could  not  help  uttering 
a  complaint  at  thus  being  repulsed,  as  it  were,  “from  the  very 
door  of  the  house,  ”  He  contrasted  the  rude  storms  which  raged 
about  the  coasts  of  the  old  world,  with  the  genial  airs,  the  tran¬ 
quil  seas,  and  balmy  weather  which  he  supposed  perpetually  to 
prevail  about  the  countries  he  had  discovered.  “Well,”  says 
he,  “may  the  sacred  theologians  and  sage  philosophers  declare 
that  the  terrestrial  paradise  is  in  the  uttermost  extremity  of 
the  East,  for  it  is  the  most  temperate  of  regions.” 

After  experiencing  several  days  of  stormy  and  adverse 
weather,  about  midnight  on  Saturday,  the  2d  of  March,  the 
caravel  was  struck  by  a  squall  of  wind  which  rent  all  her  sails, 
and,  continuing  to  blow  with  resistless  violence,  obliged  her 
to  scud  under  bare  poles,  threatening  her  each  moment  with 
destruction.  In  this  hour  of  darkness  and  peril,  the  crew  again 
called  upon  the  aid  of  Heaven.  A  lot  was  cast  for  the  perform* 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUHBUS. 


175 


ance  of  a  barefooted  pilgrimage  to  the  shrine  of  Santa  Maria  de 
la  Cueva  in  Huelva,  and,  as  usual,  the  lot  fell  upon  Columbus. 
There  was  something  singular  in  the  recurrence  of  this  circum- 
stance.  Las  Casas  devoutly  considers  it  as  an  intimation  from 
the  Deity  to  the  admiral  that  these  storms  were  all  on  his  ac¬ 
count,  to  humble  his  pride,  and  prevent  his  arrogating  to  him¬ 
self  the  glory  of  a  discovery  which  was  the  work  of  God,  and 
for  which  he  had  merely  been  chosen  as  an  instrument.* 

Various  signs  appeared  of  the  vicinity  of  land,  which  they 
supposed  must  be  the  coast  of  Portugal ;  the  tempest,  however, 
increased  to  such  a  degree  that  they  doubted  whether  any  of 
them  would  survive  to  reach  a  port.  The  whole  crew  made  a 
vow,  in  case  their  lives  were  spared,  to  fast  upon  bread  and 
water  the  following  Saturday.  The  turbulence  of  the  elements 
was  still  greater  in  the  course  of  the  following  night.  The 
sea  was  broken,  wild,  and  mountainous;  at  one  moment  the 
light  caravel  was  tossed  high  in  the  air,  and  the  next  mo¬ 
ment  seemed  sinking  in  a  yawning  abyss.  The  rain  at 
times  fell  in  torrents,  and  the  lightning  flashed  and  thunder 
pealed  from  various  parts  of  the  heavens. 

In  the  first  watch  of  this  fearful  night  the  seamen  gave  the 
usually  welcome  cry  of  land,  but  it  now  only  increased  the  gen¬ 
eral  alarm.  They  knew  not  where  they  were,  nor  where  to 
look  for  a  harbor;  they  dreaded  being  driven  on  shore,  or 
dashed  upon  rocks ;  and  thus  the  very  land  they  had  so  ear¬ 
nestly  desired  was  a  terror  to  them.  Taking  in  sail,  therefore, 
they  kept  to  sea  as  much  as  possible,  and  waited  anxiously  for 
the  morning  light. 

At  daybreak  on  the  4th  of  March  they  found  themselves  off 
the  rock  of  Cintra,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Tagus.  Though  enter¬ 
taining  a  strong  distrust  of  the  good-will  of  Portugal,  the  still 
prevailing  tempest  left  Columbus  no  alternative  but  to  run  in 
for  shelter ;  he  accordingly  anchored,  about  three  o’clock,  oppo 
site  to  Rastello,  to  the  great  joy  of  the  crew,  who  returned 
thanks  to  God  for  their  escape  from  so  many  perils. 

The  inhabitants  came  off  from  various  parts  of  the  shore, 
congratulating  them  upon  what  they  considered  a  miraculous 
preservation.  They  had  been  watching  the  vessel  the  whole 
morning  with  great  anxiety,  and  putting  up  prayers  for  her 
safety.  The  oldest  mariners  of  the  place  assured  Columbus 
they  had  never  known  so  tempestuous  a  winter ;  many  vessels 


*  Las  Casas,  Hist.  Ind.,  lib.  i.  cap.  73. 


176 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS 


had  remained  for  months  in  port,  weather-bound,  and  there 
had  been  numerous  shipwrecks. 

Immediately  on  his  arrival  Columbus  dispatched  a  courier  to 
khe  King  and  Queen  of  Spain,  with  tidings  of  his  discovery. 
He  wrote  also  to  the  King  of  Portugal,  then  at  Valparaiso,  re¬ 
questing  permission  to  go  with  his  vessel  to  Lisbon ;  for  a  report 
had  gone  abroad  that  his  caravel  was  laden  with  gold,  and  he 
felt  insecure  in  the  mouth  of  the  Tagus,  in  the  neighborhood  of 
a  place  like  Rastello,  scantily  peopled  by  needy  and  adven¬ 
turous  inhabitants.  To  prevent  any  misunderstanding  as  to 
the  nature  of  his  voyage,  he  assured  the  king  that  he  had  not 
been  on  the  coast  of  Guinea,  nor  to  any  other  of  the  Portuguese 
colonies,  but  had  come  from  Cipango,  and  the  extremity  of 
India,  which  he  had  discovered  by  sailing  to  the  west. 

On  the  following  day,  Don  Alonzo  de  Acuna,  the  captain  of  a 
large  Portuguese  man-of-war  stationed  at  Rastello,  summoned 
Columbus  on  board  his  ship,  to  give  an  account  of  himself  and 
his  vessel.  The  latter  asserted  his  rights  and  dignities  as 
admiral  of  the  Castilian  sovereigns,  and  refused  to  leave  his 
vessel,  or  to  send  any  one  in  his  place.  No  sooner,  however, 
did  the  commander  learn  his  rank,  and  the  extraordinary 
nature  of  his  voyage,  than  he  came  to  the  caravel  with  great 
sound  of  drums,  fifes,  and  trumpets,  manifesting  the  courtesy 
of  a  brave  and  generous  spirit,  and  making  the  fullest  offer  of 
his  services. 

When  the  tidings  reached  Lisbon  of  this  wonderful  bark, 
anchored  in  the  Tagus,  freighted  with  the  people  and  produce 
tions  of  a  newly-discovered  world,  the  effect  may  be  more 
easily  conceived  than  described.  Lisbon,  for  nearly  a  century, 
had  derived  its  chief  glory  from  its  maritime  discoveries,  but 
here  was  an  achievement  that  eclipsed  them  all.  Curiosity 
could  scarcely  have  been  more  excited  had  the  vessel  come 
freighted  with  the  wonders  of  another  planet.  For  several 
days  the  Tagus  presented  a  gay  and  moving  picture,  covered 
with  barges  and  boats  of  every  kind,  swarming  round  the 
caravel.  From  morning  till  night  the  vessel  was  thronged  with 
visitors,  among  whom  were  cavaliers  of  high  distinction,  and 
various  officers  of  the  crown.  All  hung  with  rapt  attention  upon 
the  accounts  given  by  Columbus  and  his  crew,  of  the  events  of 
their  voyage,  and  of  the  New  World  they  had  discovered;  and 
gazed  with  insatiable  curiosity  upon  the  specimens  of  unknown 
plants  and  animals,  but  above  all  upon  the  Indians,  so  different 
from  any  race  of  men  hitherto  known.  Some  were  filled  with 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  CO  LUMP  US. 


177 


generous  enthusiasm  at  the  idea  of  a  discovery,  so  sublime  and 
so  beneficial  to  mankind ;  the  avarice  of  others  was  inflamed 
by  the  description  of  wild,  unappropriated  regions  teeming 
with  gold,  with  pearls  and  spices ;  while  others  repined  at  the 
incredulity  of  the  king  and  his  councillors,  by  which  so  im¬ 
mense  an  acquisition  had  been  forever  lost  to  Portugal. 

On  the  8th  of  March  a  cavalier,  called  Don  Martin  de  Noro- 
fia,  came  with  a  letter  from  King  John,  congratulating  Colum¬ 
bus  on  his  arrival,  and  inviting  him  to  the  court,  which  was 
then  at  Valparaiso,  about  nine  leagues  from  Lisbon.  The  king, 
with  his  usual  magnificence,  issued  orders  at  the  same  time 
that  everything  which  the  admiral  required  for  himself,  his 
crew,  or  his  vessel,  should  be  furnished  promptly  and  abun¬ 
dantly,  without  cost. 

Columbus  would  gladly  have  declined  the  royal  invitation, 
feeling  distrust  of  the  good  faith  of  the  king ;  but  tempestuous 
weather  had  placed  him  in  his  power,  and  he  thought  it  pru¬ 
dent  to  avoid  all  appearance  of  suspicion.  He  set  forth,  there¬ 
fore,  that  very  evening  for  Valparaiso  accompanied  by  his  pilot. 
The  first  night  he  slept  at  Sacamben,  where  preparations  had 
been  made  for  his  honorable  entertainment.  The  weather  being 
rainy,  he  did  not  reach  Valparaiso  until  the  following  night. 
On  approaching  the  royal  residence,  the  principal  cavaliers  of 
the  king’s  household  came  forth  to  meet  him,  and  attended  him 
with  great  ceremony  to  the  palace.  His  reception  by  the  mon¬ 
arch  was  worthy  of  an  enlightened  prince.  He  ordered  him 
to  seat  himself  in  his  presence,  an  honor  only  granted  to  persons 
of  royal  dignity ;  and  after  many  congratulations  on  the  result 
of  his  enterprise,  assured  him  that  everything  in  his  kingdom 
that  could  be  of  service  to  his  sovereigns  or  himself  was  at  his 
command. 

A  long  conversation  ensued,  in  which  Columbus  gave  an 
account  of  his  voyage,  and  of  the  countries  he  had  discovered. 
The  king  listened  with  much  seeming  pleasure,  but  with  secret 
grief  and  mortification ;  reflecting  that  this  splendid  enterprise 
had  once  been  offered  to  himself,  and  had  been  rejected.  A 
casual  observation  showed  what  was  passing  in  his  thoughts. 
He  expressed  a  doubt  whether  the  discovery  did  not  really 
appertain  to  the  crown  of  Portugal,  according  to  the  capitula¬ 
tions  of  the  treaty  of  1479  with  the  Castilian  sovereigns.  Colum¬ 
bus  replied  that  he  had  never  seen  those  capitulations,  nor 
knew  anything  of  their  nature ;  his  orders  had  been  not  to  go 
to  La  Mina,  nor  the  coast  of  Guinea,  which  orders  he  had 


178 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


carefully  observed.  The  king  made  a  gracious  reply,  express 
ing  himself  satisfied  that  he  had  acted  correctly,  and  persuaded 
that  these  matters  would  be  readily  adjusted  between  the  two 
powers,  without  the  need  of  umpires.  On  dismissing  Columbus 
for  the  night,  he  gave  him  in  charge  as  guest  to  the  prior  of 
Crato,  the  principal  personage  present,  by  whom  he  was  hon¬ 
orably  and  hospitably  entertained. 

On  the  following  day  the  king  made  many  minute  inquiries 
as  to  the  soil,  productions,  and  people  of  the  newly-discovered 
countries,  and  the  route  taken  in  the  voyage;  to  all  which 
Columbus  gave  the  fullest  replies,  endeavoring  to  show  in  the 
clearest  manner  that  these  were  regions  heretofore  undiscov¬ 
ered  and  unappropriated  by  any  Christian  power.  Still  the 
king  was  uneasy  lest  this  vast  and  undefined  discovery  should 
in  some  way  interfere  with  his  own  newly-acquired  territories. 
He  doubted  whether  Columbus  had  not  found  a  short  way  to 
those  very  countries  which  were  the  object  of  his  own  expedi¬ 
tions,  and  which  were  comprehended  in  the  papal  bull,  grant¬ 
ing  to  the  crown  of  Portugal  all  the  lands  which  it  should 
discover  from  Cape  Non  to  the  Indies. 

On  suggesting  these  doubts  to  his  councillors,  they  eagerly 
confirmed  them.  Some  of  these  were  the  very  persons  who  had 
once  derided  this  enterprise,  and  scoffed  at  Columbus  as  a 
dreamer.  To  them  its  success  was  a  source  of  confusion ;  and 
the  return  of  Columbus,  covered  with  glory,  a  deep  humiliation. 
Incapable  of  conceiving  the  high  and  generous  thoughts  which 
elevated  him  at  that  moment  above  all  mean  considerations, 
they  attributed  to  all  his  actions  the  most  petty  and  ignoble 
motives.  His  rational  exultation  was  construed  into  an  insult¬ 
ing  triumph,  and  they  accused  him  of  assuming  a  boastful  and 
vainglorious  tone,  when  talking  with  the  king  of  his  discovery ; 
as  if  he  would  revenge  himself  upon  the  monarch  for  having 
rejected  his  propositions.*  With  the  greatest  eagerness,  there¬ 
fore,  they  sought  to  foster  the  doubts  which  had  sprung  up  in 
the  royal  mind.  Some  who  had  seen  the  na  ves  brought  in 
the  caravel,  declared  that  their  color,  hair,  and  manners  agreed 


*  Vasconcelos,  Vida  de  D.  Juan  II.,  lib.  vi.  The  Portuguese  historians  in  general 
charge  Columbus  with  having  conducted  himself  loftily,  and  talked  in  vaunting 
terms  of  his  discoveries,  in  his  conversations  with  the  king.  It  is  evident  their  infor¬ 
mation  must  have  been  derived  from  prejudiced  courtiers.  Faria  y  Souza,  in  his 
“Europa  Portuguesa”  (Parte  iii.  cap.  4),  goes  so  far  as  to  say  that  Columbus  en¬ 
tered  into  the  port  of  Rastello  merely  to  make  Portugal  sensible,  by  the  sight  of  the 
trophies  of  his  discovery,  how  muchshe  had  lost  by  not  accepting  his  propositions 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


179 


with  the  descriptions  of  the  people  of  that  part  of  India  which 
lay  within  the  route  of  the  Portuguese  discoveries,  and  which 
had  been  included  in  the  papal  bull.  Others  observed  that  there 
was  but  little  distance  between  the  Tercera  Islands  and  those 
which  Columbus  had  discovered,  and  that  the  latter,  therefore, 
clearly  appertained  to  Portugal.  Seeing  the  king  much  per¬ 
turbed  in  spirit,  some  even  went  so  far  as  to  propose,  as 
a  means  of  impeding  the  prosecution  of  these  enterprises, 
that  Columbus  should  be  assassinated;  declaring  that  he  de¬ 
served  death  for  attempting  to  deceive  and  embroil  the  two 
nations  by  his  pretended  discoveries.  It  was  suggested  that  his 
assassination  might  easily  be  accomplished  without  incurring 
any  odium ;  advantage  might  be  taken  of  his  lofty  deportment 
to  pique  his  pride,  provoke  him  into  an  altercation,  and  then 
dispatch  him  as  if  in  casual  and  honorable  encounter. 

It  is  difficult  to  believe  that  such  wicked  and  dastardly 
counsel  could  have  been  proposed  to  a  monarch  so  upright  as 
John  II.,  but  the  fact  is  asserted  by  various  historians,  Portu¬ 
guese  as  well  as  Spanish,*  and  it  accords  with  the  perfidious 
advice  formerly  given  to  the  monarch  in  respect  to  Columbus. 
There  is  a  spurious  loyalty  about  courts,  which  is  often  prone 
to  prove  its  zeal  by  its  baseness ;  and  it  is  the  weakness  of 
kings  to  tolerate  the  grossest  faults  when  they  appear  to  arise 
from  personal  devotion. 

Happily,  the  king  had  too  much  magnanimity  to  adopt  the  ini¬ 
quitous  measure  proposed.  He  did  justice  to  the  great  merit 
of  Columbus,  and  honored  him  as  a  distinguished  benefactor  of 
mankind ;  and  he  felt  it  his  duty,  as  a  generous  prince,  to  pro¬ 
tect  all  strangers  driven  by  adverse  fortune  to  his  ports. 
Others  of  his  council  suggested  a  more  bold  and  martial  fine  of 
policy.  They  advised  that  Columbus  should  be  permitted  to  re¬ 
turn  to  Spain;  but  that,  before  he  could  fit  out  a  second  expe¬ 
dition,  a  powerful  armament  should  be  dispatched,  under  the 
guidance  of  two  Portuguese  mariners  who  had  sailed  with  the 
admiral,  to  take  possession  of  the  newly-discovered  country; 
possession  being  after  all  the  best  title,  and  an  appeal  to  arms 
the  clearest  mode  of  settling'  so  doubtful  a  question. 

This  counsel,  in  which  there  was  a  mixture  of  courage  and 
craft,  was  more  relished  by  the  king,  and  he  resolved  privately, 
but  promptly,  to  put  it  in  execution^  fixing  upon  Don  Francisco 


*  Vasconcelos,  Vida  del  Rei,  Don  Juan  II.,  lib  vi.  Garcia  de  Resende,  vida  do  Pom 
Joam  II-  Las  Casas,  Hist.  Ind.,  lib.  i.  cap.  74,  ms. 


180 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


de  Almeida,  one  of  the  most  distinguished  captains  of  the  age, 
to  command  the  expedition.* 

In  the  mean  time  Columbus,  after  being  treated  with  distin- 
guished  attention,  was  escorted  back  to  his  ship  by  Don  Martin 
de  Norona,  and  a  numerous  train  of  cavaliers  of  the  court,  a 
mule  being  provided  for  himself,  and  another  for*  his  pilot,  to 
whom  the  king  made  a  present  of  twenty  espadinas,  or  ducats 
of  gold.f  On  his  way  Columbus  stopped  at  the  monastery  of 
San  Antonio,  at  Villa  Franca,  to  visit  the  queen,  who  had  ex¬ 
pressed  an  earnest  wish  to  see  this  extraordinary  and  enter¬ 
prising  man,  whose  achievement  was  the  theme  of  every 
tongue.  He  found  her  attended  by  a  few  of  her  favorite 
ladies,  and  experienced  the  most  flattering  reception.  Her  ma¬ 
jesty  made  him  relate  the  principal  events  of  his  voyage,  and 
describe  the  countries  he  had  found;  and  she  and  her  ladies 
hung  with  eager  curiosity  upon  his  narra-tion.  That  night 
he  slept  at  Llandra,  and  being  on  the  point  of  departing  in 
the  morning  a  servant  of  the  king  arrived,  to  attend  him 
to  the  frontier,  if  he  preferred  to  return  to  Spain  by  land, 
and  to  provide  horses,  lodgings,  and  everything  he  might  stand 
in  need  of,  at  the  royal  expense.  The  weather,  however,  hav¬ 
ing  moderated,  he  preferred  returning.in  his  caravel.  Putting 
to  sea,  therefore,  on  the  13th  of  March,  he  arrived  safely  at  the 
bar  of  Saltes  on  sunrise  of  the  fifteenth,  and  at  mid-day  entered 
the  harbor  of  Palos ;  whence  he  had  sailed  on  the  3d  of  August 
in  the  preceding  year,  having  taken  not  quite  seven  months  and 
a  half  to  accomplish  this  most  momentous  of  all  maritime  en- 
terprises.J 


CHAPTER  V. 

RECEPTION  OF  COLUMBUS  AT  PALOS. 

[1493.] 

The  triumphant  return  of  Columbus  was  a  prodigious  event 
in  the  history  of  the  little  port  of  Palos,  where  everybody  was 
more  or  less  interested  in  the  fate  of  his  expedition.  The  most 


*  Vasconcelos,  lib.  vi. 

t  Twenty -eight  dollars  in  gold  of  the  present  day,  and  equivalent  to  seventy-four 
dollars,  considering  the  depreciation  of  the  precious  metals. 

t  Works  generally  consulted  in  this  chapter:  Las  Casas,  Hist.  Ind.,  lib.  1.  cap.  17,' 
Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  39,  40,  41 ;  Journal  of  Columb.  Navarrete,  tom.  i. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


181 


Important  and  wealthy  sea-captains  of  the  place  had  engaged 
in  it,  and  scarcely  a  family  but  had  some  relative  or  friend 
among  the  navigators.  The  departure  of  the  ships  upon  what 
appeared  a  chimerical  and  desperate  cruise,  had  spread  gloom 
and  dismay  over  the  place ;  and  the  storms  which  had  raged 
throughout  the  winter  had  heightened  the  public  despondency. 
Many  lamented  their  friends  as  lost,  while  imagination  lent 
mysterious  horrors  to  their  fate,  picturing  them  as  driven 
about  over  wild  and  desert  wastes  of  water  without  a  shore, 
or  as  perishing  amid  rocks  and  quicksands  and  whirlpools ;  or 
a  prey  to  those  monsters  of  the  deep,  with  which  credulity  peo¬ 
pled  every  distant  and  unfrequented  sea.  There  was  something 
more  awful  in  such  a  mysterious  fate  than  in  death  itself,  under 
any  defined  and  ordinary  form.* 

Great  was  the  agitation  of  the  inhabitants,  therefore,  when 
they  beheld  one  of  the  ships  standing  up  the  river ;  but  when 
they  learned  that  she  returned  in  triumph  from  the  discovery 
of  a  world,  the  whole  community  broke  forth  into  transports 
of  joy.  The  bells  were  rung,  the  shops  shut,  all  business  was 
suspended :  for  a  time  there  was  nothing  but  hurry  and  tumult. 
Some  were  anxious  to  know  the  fate  of  a  relative,  others  of  a 
friend,  and  all  to  learn  the  particulars  of  so  wonderful  a  voy¬ 
age.  When  Columbus  landed,  the  multitude  thronged  to  see 
and  welcome  him,  and  a  grand  procession  was  formed  to  the 
principal  church,  to  return  thanks  to  God  for  so  signal  a  dis¬ 
covery  made  by  the  people  of  that  place  — forgetting,  in  their  ex¬ 
ultation,  the  thousand  difficulties  they  had  thrown  in  the  way 
of  the  enterprise.  Wherever  Columbus  passed,  he  was  hailed 
with  shouts  and  acclamations.  What  a  contrast  to  his  depar¬ 
ture  a  few  months  before,  followed  by  murmurs  and  execra¬ 
tions  ;  or,  rather,  what  a  contrast  to  his  first  arrival  at  Palos,  a 
poor  pedestrian,  craving  bread  and  water  for  his  child  at  the 
gate  of  a  convent ! 

Understanding  that  the  court  was  at  Barcelona,  he  felt  dis¬ 
posed  to  proceed  thither  immediately  in  his  caravel ;  reflecting, 
however,  on  the  dangers  and  disasters  he  had  already  experi¬ 
enced  on  the  seas,  he  resolved  to  proceed  by  land.  He  dis- 


*  In  the  maps  and  charts  of  those  times,  and  even  in  those  of  a  much  later  date, 
the  variety  of  formidable  and  hideous  monsters  depicted  in  all  remote  parts  of  the 
ocean  evince  the  terrors  and  dangers  with  which  the  imagination  clothed  it.  The 
same  may  also  be  said  of  distant  and  unknown  lands;  the  remote  parts  of  Asia  and 
Africa  have  monsters  depicted  in  them  which  it  would  be  difficult  to  trace  to  any 
Originals  in  natural  history. 


182 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


patched  a  letter  to  the  king  and  queen,  informing  them  of  his 
arrival,  and  soon  afterward  departed  for  Seville  to  await  their 
orders,  taking  with  him  six  of  the  natives  whom  he  had 
brought  from  the  New  World.  One  had  died  at  sea,  and  three 
were  left  ill  at  Palos. 

It  is  a  singular  coincidence,  which  appears  to  be  well  authen¬ 
ticated,  that  on  the  very  evening  of  the  arrival  of  Columbus 
at  Palos,  and  while  the  peals  of  triumph  were  still  ringing  from 
its  towers,  the  Pinta,  commanded  by  Martin  Alonzo  Pinzon, 
likewise  entered  the  river.  After  her  separation  from  the  ad¬ 
miral  in  the  storm,  she  had  been  driven  before  the  gale  into  the 
Bay  of  Biscay,  and  had  made  the  port  of  Bayonne.  Doubting 
whether  Columbus  had  survived  the  tempest,  Pinzon  had  im¬ 
mediately  written  to  the  sovereigns  giving  information  of  the 
discovery  he  had  made,  and  had  requested  permission  to  come 
to  court  and  communicate  the  particulars  in  person.  As  soon  as 
the  weather  permitted,  he  had  again  set  sail,  anticipating  a  tri¬ 
umphant  reception  in  his  native  port  of  Palos.  When,  on  enter¬ 
ing  the  harbor,  he  beheld  the  vessel  of  the  admiral  riding  at  an¬ 
chor,  and  learnt  the  enthusiasm  with  which  he  had  been  re¬ 
ceived,  the  heart  of  Pinzon  died  within  him.  It  is  said  that  he 
feared  to  meet  Columbus  in  this  hour  of  his  triumph,  lest  he 
should  put  him  under  arrest  for  his  desertion  on  the  coast  of 
Cuba ;  but  he  was  a  man  of  too  much  resolution  to  indulge  in 
such  a  fear.  It  is  more  probable  that  a  consciousness  of  his 
misconduct  made  him  unwilling  to  appear  before  the  public  in 
the  midst  of  their  enthusiasm  for  Columbus,  and  perhaps  he 
sickened  at  the  honors  heaped  upon  a  man  whose  superiority 
he  had  been  so  unwilling  to  acknowledge.  Getting  into  his 
boat,  therefore,  he  landed  privately  and  kept  out  of  sight  until 
he  heard  of  the  admiral’s  departure.  He  then  returned  to  his 
home,  broken  in  health  and  deeply  dejected,  considering  all  the 
honors  and  eulogiums  heaped  upon  Columbus  as  so  many  re¬ 
proaches  on  himself.  The  reply  of  the  sovereigns  to  his  letter 
at  length  arrived.  It  was  of  a  reproachful  tenor,  and  forbade 
his  appearance  at  court.  This  letter  completed  his  humiliation ; 
the  anguish  of  his  feelings  gave  virulence  to  his  bodily  malady, 
and  in  a  few  days  he  died,  a  victim  to  deep  chagrin.* 

Let  no  one,  however,  indulge  in  harsh  censures  over  the 
grave  of  Pinzon !  His  merits  and  services  are  entitled  to  the 
highest  praise ;  his  errors  should  be  regarded  with  indulgence. 


*  Mufioz,  Hist.  N.  Mundo,  lib.  iv.  §  14.  Charlevoix,  Hist.  St.  Domin.  lib.  ii 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


183 


He  was  one  of  the  foremost  in  Spain  to  appreciate  the  project 
of  Columbus,  animating  him  by  his  concurrence  and  aiding 
him  with  his  purse,  when  poor  and  unknown  at  Palos.  He 
afterward  enabled  him  to  procure  and  fit  out  ships,  when  even 
the  mandates  of  the  sovereigns  were  ineffectual;  and  finally 
embarked  in  the  expedition  with  his  brothers  and  his  friends, 
staking  life,  property,  everything  upon  the  event.  He  thus  en¬ 
titled  himself  to  participate  largely  in  the  glory  of  this  immor¬ 
tal  enterprise ;  but  unfortunately,  forgetting  for  a  moment  the 
grandeur  of  the  cause,  and  the  implicit  obedience  due  to  his 
commander,  he  yielded  to  the  incitements  of  self-interest,  and 
committed  that  act  of  insubordination  which  has  cast  a  shade 
upon  his  name.  In  extenuation  of  his  fault,  however,  may  be 
alleged  his  habits  of  command,  which  rendered  him  impatient 
of  control ;  his  consciousness  of  having  rendered  great  services 
to  the  expedition,  and  of  possessing  property  in  the  ships. 
That  he  was  a  man  of  great  professional  merit  is  admitted  by 
all  his  contemporaries;  that  he  naturally  possessed  generous 
sentiments  and  an  honorable  ambition,  is  evident  from  the 
poignancy  with  which  he  felt  the  disgrace  drawn  on  him  by 
his  misconduct.  A  “mean  man  would  not  have  fallen  a  victim 
to  self-upbraiding  for  having  been  convicted  of  a  mean  action. 
His  story  shows  how  one  lapse  from  duty  may  counterbalance 
the  merits  of  a  thousand  services ;  how  one  moment  of  weak¬ 
ness  may  mar  the  beauty  of  a  whole  life  of  virtue ;  and  how 
important  it  is  for  a  man,  under  all  circumstances,  to  be  true 
not  merely  to  others,  but  to  himself.* 


*  After  a  lapse  of  years,  the  descendants  of  the  Pinzons  made  strenuous  represen¬ 
tations  to  the  crown  of  the  merits  and  services  of  their  family,  endeavoring  to  prove, 
among  other  things,  that  but  for  the  aid  and  encouragement  of  Martin  Alonzo  and 
his  brothers,  Columbus  would  never  have  made  his  discovery.  Some  of  the  testi¬ 
mony  rendered  on  this  and  another  occasion  was  rather  extravagant  and  absurd, 
as  will  be  shown  in  another  part  of  this  work.t  The  Emperor  Charles  V.,  however, 
taking  into  consideration  the  real  services  of  the  brothers  in  the  first  voyage,  and 
the  subsequent  expeditions  and  discoveries  of  that  able  and  intrepid  navigator, 
Vincente  Yanez  Pinzon,  granted  to  the  family  the  well-merited  rank  and  privileges 
of  Hidalguia ,  a  degree  of  nobility  which  constituted  them  noble  hidalgos,  with  the 
right  of  prefixing  the  title  of  Don  to  their  names.  A  coat  of  arms  was  also  given 
them,  emblematical  of  their  services  as  discoverers.  These  privileges  and  arms  are 
carefully  preserved  by  the  family  at  the  present  day. 

The  Pinzons  at  present  reside  principally  in  the  little  city  of  Moguer,  about  a 
league  from  Palos,  and  possess  vineyards  and  estates  about  the  neighborhood. 
They  are  in  easy,  if  not  affluent  circumstances,  and  inhabit  the  best  houses  in  Mo¬ 
guer.  Here  they  have  continued,  from  generation  to  generation,  since  the  time  of 

t  Vide  illustrations,  article  “  Martin  Alonzo  Pinzon.” 


184 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


CHAPTER  YI. 

RECEPTION  OF  COLUMBUS  BY  THE  SPANISH  COURT  AT  BARCELONA 

The  letter  of  Columbus  to  the  Spanish  monarchs  had  pro 
duced  the  greatest  sensation  at  court.  The  event  he  an¬ 
nounced  was  considered  the  most  extraordinary  of  their  pros¬ 
perous  reign,  and  following  so  close  upon  the  conquest  of  Gra¬ 
nada,  was  pronounced  a  signal  mark  of  divine  favor  for  that 
triumph  achieved  in  the  cause  of  the  true  faith.  The  sovereigns 
themselves  were  for  a  time  dazzled  by  this  sudden  and  easy  ac¬ 
quisition  of  a  new  empire,  of  indefinite  extent,  and  apparently 
boundless  wealth ;  and  their  first  idea  was  to  secure  it  beyond 
the  reach  of  dispute.  Shortly  after  his  arrival  in  Seville,  Colum¬ 
bus  received  a  letter  from  them  expressing  their  great  delight, 
and  requesting  him  to  repair  immediately  to  court,  to  concert 
plans  for  a  second  and  more  extensive  expedition.  As  the 
summer,  the  time  favorable  for  a  voyage,  was  approaching, 
they  desired  him  to  make  any  arrangements  at  Seville  or 
elsewhere  that  might  hasten  the  expedition,  and  to  inform 
them,  by  the  return  of  the  courier,  what  was  to  be  done  on 
their  part.  This  letter  was  addressed  to  him  by  the  title  of 
“  Don  Christopher  Columbus,  our  admiral  of  the  ocean  sea,  and 
viceroy  and  governor  of  the  islands  discovered  in  the  Indies 
at  the  same  time  he  was  promised  still  further  rewards.  Co¬ 
lumbus  lost  no  time  in  complying  with  the  commands  of  the 
sovereigns.  He  sent  a  memorandum  of  the  ships,  men,  and 
munitions  requisite,  and  having  made  such  dispositions  at  Se¬ 
ville  as  circumstances  permitted,  set  out  for  Barcelona,  taking 
with  him  the  six  Indians,  and  the  various  curiosities  and  pro¬ 
ductions  brought  from  the  New  World. 

» - - - _. — - . 

the  discovery,  filling  places  ofj  public  ti’ust  and  dignity,  enjoying  the  good  opinion 
and  good  will  of  their  fellow-citizens,  and  flourishing  in  nearly  the  same  state  in 
which  they  were  found  by  Columbus,  on  his  first  visit  to  Palos.  It  is  rare  indeed  to 
find  a  family,  in  this  fluctuating  world,  so  little  changed  by  the  revolutions  of  nearly 
three  centuries  and  a  half. 

Whatever  Palos  may  have  been  in  the  time  of  Columbus,  it  is  now  a  paltry  village 
of  about  four  hundred  inhabitants,  who  subsist  chiefly  by  laboring  in  the  fields  and 
vineyards.  The  convent  of  La  Rabida  still  exists,  but  is  inhabited  merely  by  two 
friars,  with  a  novitiate  and  a  lay  brother.  It  is  situated  on  a  hill,  surrounded  by  a 
scattered  forest  of  pine  trees,  and  overlooks  the  low  sandy  country  of  the  sea-coast, 
and  the  windings  of  the  river  by  which  Columbus  sallied  forth  upon  the  ocean. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


185 


The  fame  of  his  discovery  had  resounded  throughout  the  na¬ 
tion,  and  as  his  route  lay  through  several  of  the  finest  and  most 
populous  provinces  of  Spain,  his  journey  appeared  like  the  pro¬ 
gress  of  a  sovereign.  Wherever  he  passed  the  country  poured 
forth  its  inhabitants,  who  lined  the  road  and  thronged  the  vil¬ 
lages.  The  streets,  windows,  and  balconies  of  the  towns  were 
filled  with  eager  spectators,  who  rent  the  air  with  acclamations. 
His  journey  was  continually  impeded  by  the  multitude  pressing 
to  gain  a  sight  of  him  and  of  the  Indians,  who  were  regarded 
with  as  much  astonishment  as  if  they  had  been  natives  of  another 
planet.  It  was  impossible  to  satisfy  the  craving  curiosity  which 
assailed  him  and  his  attendants  at  every  stage  with  innumer¬ 
able  questions;  popular  rumor,  as  usual,  had  exaggerated  the 
truth,  and  had  filled  the  newly-found  country  with  all  kinds  of 
wonders. 

About  the  middle  of  April  Columbus  arrived  at  Barcelona, 
where  every  preparation  had  been  made  to  give  him  a  solemn 
and  magnificent  reception.  The  beauty  and  serenity  of  the 
weather  in  that  genial  season  and  favored  climate  contributed 
to  give  splendor  to  this  memorable  ceremony.  As  he  drew  near 
the  place,  many  of  the  youthful  courtiers  and  hidalgos,  together 
with  a  vast  concourse  of  the  populace,  came  forth  to  meet  and 
welcome  him.  His  entrance  into  this  noble  city  has  been  com¬ 
pared  to  one  of  those  triumphs  which  the  Romans  were  accus¬ 
tomed  to  decree  to  conquerors.  First  were  paraded  the  Indians, 
painted  according  to  their  savage  fashion,  and  decorated  with 
their  national  ornaments  of  gold.  After  these  were  borne 
various  kinds  of  live  parrots,  together  with  stuffed  birds  and 
animals  of  unknown  species,  and  rare  plants  supposed  to  be  of 
precious  qualities ;  while  great  care  was  taken  to  make  a  con¬ 
spicuous  display  of  Indian  coronets,  bracelets,  and  other  decora¬ 
tions  of  gold,  which  might  give  an  idea  of  the  wealth  of  the 
newly -discovered  regions.  After  this,  followed  Columbus  on 
horseback,  surrounded  by  a  brilliant  cavalcade  of  Spanish  chi¬ 
valry.  The  streets  were  almost  impassable  from  the  countless 
multitude ;  the  windows  and  balconies  were  crowded  with  the 
fair ;  the  very  roofs  were  covered  with  spectators.  It  seemed 
as  if  the  public  eye  could  not  be  sated  with  gazing  on  these  tro¬ 
phies  of  an  unknown  world;  or  on  the  remarkable  man  by 
whom  it  had  been  discovered.  There  was  a  sublimity  in  this 
event  that  mingled  a  solemn  feeling  with  the  public  joy.  It 
was  looked  upon  as  a  vast  and  signal  dispensation  of  Providence, 
in  reward  for  the  piety  of  the  monarchs;  and  the  majestic  and 


186 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


venerable  appearance  of  the  discoveror,  so  different  from  the 
youth  and  buoyancy  generally  expected  from  roving  enterprise, 
seemed  in  harmony  with  the  grandeur  and  dignity  of  his 
achievement. 

To  receive  him  with  suitable  pomp  and  distinction,  the  sov¬ 
ereigns  had  ordered  their  throne  to  be  placed  in  public  under  a 
rich  canopy  of  brocade  of  gold,  in  a  vast  and  splendid  saloon. 
Here  the  king  and  queen  awaited  his  arrival,  seated  in  state, 
with  the  prince  Juan  beside  them,  and  attended  by  the  digni¬ 
taries  of  their  court,  and  the  principal  nobility  of  Castile,  Va- 
lentia,  Catalonia,  and  Arragon,  all  impatient  to  behold  the  man 
who  had  conferred  so  incalculable  a  benefit  upon  the  nation. 
At  length  Columbus  entered  the  hall,  surrounded  by  a  brilliant 
crowd  of  cavaliers,  among  whom,  says  Las  Casas,  he  was  con¬ 
spicuous  for  his  stately  and  commanding  person,  which  with 
his  countenance,  rendered  venerable  by  his  gray  hairs,  gave 
him  the  august  appearance  of  a  senator  of  Eome ;  a  modest 
smile  lighted  up  his  features,  showing  that  he  enjoyed  the  state 
and  glory  in  which  he  came  ;*  and  certainly  nothing  could  be 
more  deeply  moving  to  a  mind  inflamed  by  noble  ambition,  and 
conscious  of  having  greatly  deserved,  than  these  testimonials 
of  the  admiration  and  gratitude  of  a  nation,  or  rather  of  a  world 
As  Columbus  approached  the  sovereigns  rose,  as  if  receiving  a 
person  of  the  highest  rank.  Bending  his  knees,  he  offered  to 
kiss  their  hands ;  but  there  was  some  hesitation  on  their  part 
to  permit  this  act  of  homage.  Raising  him  in  the  most  gracious 
manner,  they  ordered  him  to  seat  himself  in  their  presence ;  a 
rare  honor  in  this  proud  and  punctilious  court,  f 

At  their  request,  he  now  gave  an  account  of  the  most  striking 
events  of  his  voyage,  and  a  description  of  the  islands  discovered. 
He  displayed  specimens  of  unknown  birds  and  other  animals ; 
of  rare  plants  of  medicinal  and  aromatic  virtues ;  of  native  gold 
in  dust,  in  cnude  masses,  or  labored  into  barbaric  ornaments ; 
and,  above  all,  the  natives  of  these  countries,  who  were  objects 
©f  intense  and  inexhaustible  interest.  All  these  he  pronounced 
mere  harbingers  of  greater  discoveries  yet  to  be  made,  which 
would  add  realms  of  incalculable  wealth  to  the  dominions  of 
their  majesties,  and  whole  nations  of  proselytes  to  the  true 
faith. 

When  he  had  finished,  the  sovereigns  sank  on  their  knees, 


*  Las  Casas,  Hist.  Ind.,  lib.  i.  cap.  78.  ms. 

t  IjUS  Casas,  Hist.  Ind.,  lib.  i.  cap.  78.  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  Cl. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


187 


and  raising  their  clasped  hands  to  heaven,  their  eyes  filled  with 
tears  of  joy  and  gratitude,  poured  forth  thanks  and  praises  to 
God  for  so  great  a  providence ;  all  present  followed  their  exam¬ 
ple  ;  a  deep  and  solemn  enthusiasm  pervaded  that  splendid  as¬ 
sembly,  and  prevented  all  common  acclamations  of  triumph. 
The  anthem  Te  Deum  laudamus,  chanted  by  the  choir  of  the 
royal  chapel,  with  the  accompaniment  of  rostrum  ents,  rose  in 
a  full  body  of  sacred  harmony ;  bearing  up,  as  it  were,  the  feel¬ 
ings  and  thoughts  of  the  auditors  to  heaven,  “  so  that,”  says 
the  venerable  Las  Casas,  “it  seemed  as  it  in  that  hour  they 
communicated  with  celestial  delights.  ”  Such  was  the  solemn 
and  pious  manner  in  which  the  brilliant  court  of  Spain  cele¬ 
brated  this  sublime  event;  offering  up  a  grateful  tribute  of 
melody  and  praise,  and  giving  glory  to  God  for  the  discovery 
of  another  world. 

When  Columbus  retired  from  the  royal  presence,  he  was  at¬ 
tended  to  his  residence  by  all  the  court,  and  followed  by  the 
shouting  populace.  For  many  days  he  was  the  object  of  uni¬ 
versal  curiosity,  and  wherever  he  appeared  was  surrounded  by 
an  admiring  multitude. 

While  his  mind  was  teeming  with  glorious  anticipations,  his 
pious  scheme  for  the  deliverance  of  the  holy  sepulchre  was  not 
forgotten.  It  has  been  shown  that  he  suggested  it  to  the  Span¬ 
ish  sovereigns  at  the  time  of  first  making  his  propositions,  hold¬ 
ing  it  forth  as  the  great  object  to  be  effected  by  the  profits  of 
his  discoveries.  Flushed  with  the  idea  of  the  vast  wealth  now 
to  accrue  to  himself,  he  madq  a  vow  to  furnish  within  soven 
years  an  army,  consisting  of  four  thousand  horse  and  fifty 
thousand  foot,  for  the  rescue  of  the  holy  sepulchre,  and  a  simi¬ 
lar  force  within  the  five-  following  years.  This  vow  was  re¬ 
corded  in  one  of  his  letters  to  the  sovereigns,  to  which  he  re¬ 
fers,  but  which  is  no  longer  extant ;  nor  is  it  certain  whether 
it  was  made  at  the  end  of  his  first  voyage  or  at  a  subsequent 
date,  when  the  magnitude  and  wealthy  result  of  his  discoveries 
became  more  fully  manifest.  He  often  alludes  to  it  vaguely  in 
his  writings,  and  he  refers  to  it  expressly  in  a  letter  to  Pope 
Alexander  VI.,  written  in  1502,  in  which  he  accounts  also  for 
its  non-fulfilment.  It  is  essential  to  a  full  comprehension  of 
the  character  and  motives  of  Columbus,  that  this  visionary 
project  should  be  borne  in  recollection.  It  will  be  found  to 
have  entwined  itself  in  his  mind  with  his  enterprise  of  discov¬ 
ery,  and  that  a  holy  crusade  was  to  be  the  consummation  of 
those  divine  purposes,  for  which  he  considered  himself  selected 


188 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


by  Heaven  as  an  agent.  It  shows  how  much  his  mind  was  ele¬ 
vated  above  selfish  and  mercenary  views — how  it  was  filled 
with  those  devout  and  heroic  schemes,  which  in  the  time  of  the 
Crusades  had  inflamed  the  thoughts  and  directed  the  enterprises 
of  the  bravest  warriors  and  most  illustrious  princes. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

SOJOURN  OF  COLUMBUS  AT  BARCELONA— ATTENTIONS  PATD  HIM 
BY  THE  SOVEREIGNS  AND  COURTIERS. 

The  joy  occasioned  by  the  great  discovery  of  Columbus  was 
not  confined  to  Spain ;  the  tidings  were  spread  far  and  wide  by 
the  communications  of  ambassadors,  the  correspondence  of  the 
learned,  the  negotiations  of  merchants,  and  the  reports  of  trav¬ 
ellers,  and  the  whole  civilized  world  was  filled  with  wonder  and 
delight.  How  gratifying  would  it  have  been,  had  the  press  at 
that  time,  as  at  present,  poured  forth  its  daily  tide  of  specula¬ 
tion  on  every  passing  occurrence !  With  what  eagerness  should 
we  seek  to  know  the  first  ideas  and  emotions  of  the  public,  on 
an  event  so  unlooked  for  and  sublime!  Even  the  first  an¬ 
nouncements  of  it  by  contemporary  writers,  though  brief  and 
incidental,  derive  interest  from  being  written  at  the  time ;  and 
from  showing  the  casual  way  in  which  such  great  tidings  were 
conveyed  about  the  world.  Allegretto  Allegretti,  in  his  annals 
for  Sienna  for  1493,  mentions  it  as  just  made  known  there  by 
the  letters  of  their  merchants  who  were  in  Spain,  and  by  the 
mouths  of  various  travellers.*  The  news  was  brought  to  Genoa 
by  the  return  of  her  ambassadors  Francisco  Marchesi  and  Gio¬ 
vanni  Antonio  Grimaldi,  and  was  recorded  among  the  trium¬ 
phant  events  of  the  year ;  f  for  the  republic,  though  she  may 
have  slighted  the  opportunity  of  making  herself  mistress  of  the 
discovery,  has  ever  since  been  tenacious  of  the  glory  of  having 
given  birth  to  the  discoverer.  The  tidings  were  soon  carried  to 
England,  which  as  yet  was  but  a  maritime  power  of  inferior 
importance.  They  caused,  however,  much  wonder  in  London, 
and  great  talk  and  admiration  in  the  court  of  Henry  VII. ,  where 
the  discovery  was  pronounced  ‘  ‘  a  thing  more  divine  than  hu- 


*  Diarj  Senesi  de  Alleg.  Allegretti.  Muratori,  Ital.  Script.,  tom.  cxiii, 
t  Foglieta,  Istoria  de  Genova,  lib.  ii. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


180 


man.”  We  have  this  on  the  authority  of  Sebastian  Cabot  him- 
self,  the  future  discoverer  of  the  northern  continent  of  America, 
who  was  in  London  at  the  time,  and  was  inspired  by  the  event 
with  a  generous  spirit  of  emulation.* 

Every  member  of  civilized  society,  in  fact,  rejoiced  in  the  oc¬ 
currence,  as  one  in  which  he  was  more  or  less  interested.  To 
some  it  opened  a  new  and  unbounded  field  of  inquiry ;  to  others, 
of  enterprise;  and  every  one  awaited  with  intense  eagerness 
the  further  development  of  this  unknown  world,  still  covered 
with  mystery,  the  partial  glimpses  of  which  were  so  full  of 
wonder.  We  have  a  brief  testimony  of  the  emotions  of  the 
learned  in  a  letter,  written  at  the  time  by  Peter  Martyr  to  his 
friend  Pomponius  Laetus.  “You  tell  me,  my  amiable  Pom- 
ponius,”  he  writes,  “that  you  leaped  for  joy,  and  that  your  de¬ 
light  was  mingled  with  tears,  when  you  read  my  epistle,  certi¬ 
fying  to  you  the  hitherto  hidden  world  of  the  antipodes.  You 
have  felt  and  acted  as  became  a  man  eminent  for  learning,  for 
I  can  conceive  no  aliment  more  delicious  than  such  tidings  to  a 
cultivated  and  ingenuous  mind.  I  feel  a  wonderful  exultation 
of  spirits  when  I  converse  with  intelligent  men  who  have  re¬ 
turned  from  these  regions.  It  is  like  an  accession  of  wealth  to 
a  miser.  Our  minds,  soiled  and  debased  by  the  common  con¬ 
cerns  of  life  and  the  vices  of  society,  become  elevated  and 
ameliorated  by  contemplating  such  glorious  events.”! 

Notwithstanding  this  universal  enthusiasm,  however,  no  one 
was  aware  of  the  real  importance  of  the  discovery.  No  one 
had  an  idea  that  this  was  a  totally  distinct  portion  of  the  globe, 
separated  by  oceans  from  the  ancient  world.  The  opinion  of 
Columbus  was  universally  adopted,  that  Cuba  was  the  end  of 
the  Asiatic  continent,  and  that  the  adjacent  islands  were  in  the 
Indian  seas.  This  agreed  with  the  opinions  of  the  ancients, 
heretofore  cited,  about  the  moderate  distance  from  Spain  to  the 
extremity  of  India,  sailing  westwardly.  The  parrots  were  also 
thought  to  resemble  those  described  by  Pliny,  as  abounding  in 
the  remote  parts  of  Asia.  The  lands,  therefore,  which  Colum¬ 
bus  had  visited  were  called  the  West  Indies;  and  as  he  seemed 
to  have  entered  upon  a  vast  region  of  unexplored  countries, 
existing  in  a  state  of  nature,  the  whole  received  the  compre¬ 
hensive  appellation  of  “The  New  World.” 

During  the  whole  of  his  sojourn  at  Barcelona,  the  sovereigns 


*  Hackluyt,  Collect.  Voyages,  vol.  iii.  p.  7. 
t  Letters  of  P.  Martyr,  let.  158, 


190 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


took  every  occasion  to  bestow  on  Columbus  personal  marks  of 
their  high  consideration.  He  was  admitted  at  all  times  to  the 
royal  presence,  and  the  queen  delighted  to  converse  with  him 
on  the  subject  of  his  enterprises.  The  king,  too,  appeared  oc¬ 
casionally  on  horseback,  with  Prince  Juan  on  one  side,  and 
Columbus  on  the  other.  To  perpetuate  in  his  family  the  glory 
of  his  achievement,  a  coat  of  arms  was  assigned  him,  in  which 
the  royal  arms,  the  castle  and  lion,  were  quartered  with  his 
proper  bearings,  which  were  a  group  of  islands  surrounded  by 
waves.  To  these  arms  was  afterward  annexed  the  motto : 

A  Castilla  y  d  Leon, 

Nuevo  mundo  dio  Colon. 

(To  Castile  and  Leon 
Columbus  gave  a  new  world.) 

The  pension  which  had  been  decreed  by  the  sovereigns  to  him 
who  in  the  first  voyage  should  discover  land,  was  adjudged  to 
Columbus,  for  having  first  seen  the  light  on  the  shore.  It  ia 
said  that  the  seaman  who  first  descried  the  land  was  so  incensed 
at  being  disappointed  at  what  he  conceived  his  merited  reward, 
that  he  renounced  his  <  ratry  and  his  faith,  and  going  into 
Africa  turned  Mussulman ;  an  anecdote  which  rests  merely  on 
the  authority  of  Oviedo,*  who  is  extremely  incorrect  in  his 
narration  of  this  voyage,  and  inserts  many  falsehoods  told  him 
by  the  enemies  of  the  admiral. 

It  may  at  first  sight  appear  but  little  accordant  with  the 
acknowledged  magnanimity  of  Columbus,  to  have  borne  away 
the  prize  from  this  poor  sailor,  but  this  was  a  subject  in  which 
his  whole  ambition  was  involved,  and  he  was  doubtless  proud 
of  the  honor  of  being  personally  the  discoverer  of  the  land  as 
well  as  projector  of  the  enterprise. 

Next  to  the  countenance  shown  him  by  the  king  and  queen 
may  be  mentioned  that  of  Pedro  Gonzalez  de  Mendoza,  the 
Grand  Cardinal  of  Spain,  and  first  subject  of  the  realm;  a  man 
whose  elevated  character  for  piety,  learning,  and  high  prince¬ 
like  qualities,  gave  signal  value  to  his  favors.  He  invited 
Columbus  to  a  banquet,  where  he  assigned  him  the  most  hon¬ 
orable  place  at  table,  and  had  him  served  with  the  ceremonials 
which  in  those  punctilious  times  were  observed  toward  sover¬ 
eigns.  At  this  repast  is  said  to  have  occurred  the  well-known 
anecdote  of  the  egg.  A  shallow  courtier  present,  impatient  of 


*  Oviedo,  Cronico  de  las  Indias,  lib.  ii.  cap.  2. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


191 


the  honors  paid  to  Columbus,  and  meanly  jealous  of  him  as  a 
foreigner,  abruptly  asked  him  whether  he  thought  that,  in  case 
he  had  not  discovered  the  Indies,  there  were  not  other  men  in 
Spain  who  would  have  been  capable  of  the  enterprise?  To  this 
Columbus  made  no  immediate  reply,  but,  taking  an  egg,  invited 
the  company  to  make  it  stand  on  one  end.  Every  one  at¬ 
tempted  it,  but  in  vain ;  whereupon  he  struck  it  upon  the  table 
so  as  to  break  the  end,  and  left  it  standing  on  the  broken 
part ;  illustrating  in  this  simple  manner  that  when  he  had  once 
shown  the  way  to  the  New  World  nothing  was  easier  than  to 
follow  it.* 

The  favor  shown  Columbus  by  the  sovereigns  insured  him 
for  a  time  the  caresses  of  the  nobility ;  for  in  a  court  every  one 
vies  with  his  neighbor  in  lavishing  attentions  upon  the  man 
“whom  the  king  delighteth  to  honor.”  Columbus  bore  all 
these  caresses  and  distinctions  with  becoming  modesty,  though 
he  must  have  felt  a  proud  satisfaction  in  the  idea  that  they  had 
been  wrested,  as  it  were,  from  the  nation  by  his  courage  and 
perseverance.  One  can  hardly  recognize  in  the  individual  thus 
made  the  companion  of  princes,  and  the  theme  of  general  won' 
der  and  admiration,  the  same  obscure  stranger  who  but  a  short 
time  before  had  been  a  common  scoff  and  jest  in  this  very 
court,  derided  by  some  as  an  adventurer,  and  pointed  at  by 
others  as  a  madman.  Those  who  had  treated  him  with  con¬ 
tumely  during  his  long  course  of  solicitation,  now  sought  to 
efface  the  remembrance  of  it  by  adulations.  Every  one  who 
had  given  him  a  little  cold  countenance,  or  a  few  courtly  smiles, 
now  arrogated  to  himself  the  credit  of  having  been  a  patron 
and  of  having  promoted  the  discovery  of  the  New  World. 
Scarce  a  great  man  about  the  court  but  has  been  enrolled  by 
his  historian  or  biographer  among  the  benefactors  of  Columbus; 
though,  had  one  tenth  part  of  this  boasted  patronage  been  really 
exerted,  he  would  never  have  had  to  linger  seven  years  solicit¬ 
ing  for  an  armament  of  three  caravels.  Columbus  knew  well 
♦the  weakness  of  the  patronage  that  had  been  given  him.  The 
only  friends  mentioned  by  him  with  gratitude,  in  his  after  let¬ 
ters,  as  having  been  really  zealous  and  effective,  were  those  two 
worthy  friars,  Diego  de  Deza,  afterward  Bishop  of  Palencia  and 
Seville,  and  Juan  Perez,  the  prior  of  the  convent  of  La  Rabida. 


*  This  anecdote  rests  on  the  authority  of  the  Italian  historian  Benzoni  (lib.  i.  p.  12, 
ed.  Venetia,  1572).  It  has  been  condemned  as  trivial,  but  the  simplicity  of  the 
reproof  constitutes  its  severity,  and  was  characteristic  of  the  practical  sagacity  of 
Columbus.  The  universal  popularity  of  the  anecdote  is  a  proof  of  its  merit. 


192 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


Tlius  honored  by  the  sovereigns,  courted  by  the  great,  idol 
ized  by  the  people,  Columbus,  for  a  time,  drank  the  honeyed 
draught  of  popularity,  before  enmity  and  detraction  had  time 
to  drug  it  with  bitterness.  His  discovery  burst  with  such  sud¬ 
den  splendor  upon  the  world  as  to  dazzle  envy  itself,  and  to 
call  forth  the  general  acclamations  of  mankind.  Well  would  it 
be  for  the  honor  of  human  nature,  could  history,  like  romance, 
close  with  the  consummation  of  the  hero’s  wishes ;  we  should 
then  leave  Columbus  in  the  full  fruition  of  great  and  well- 
merited  prosperity.  But  his  history  is  destined  to  furnish 
another  proof,  if  proof  be  wanting,  of  the  inconstancy  of  public 
favor,  even  when  won  by  distinguished  services.  No  greatness 
was  ever  acquired  by  more  incontestable,  unalloyed,  and  ex¬ 
alted  benefits  rendered  to  mankind,  yet  none  ever  drew  on  its 
possessor  more  unremitting  jealousy  and  defamation;  or  in¬ 
volved  him  in  more  umnerited  distress  and  difficulty.  Thus  it 
is  with  illustrious  merit :  its  very  effulgence  draws  forth  the 
rancorous  passions  of  low  and  grovelling  minds,  which  too  often 
have  a  temporary  influence  in  obscuring  it  to  the  world ;  as  the 
sun  emerging  with  full  splendor  into  the  heavens,  calls  up,  by 
the  very  fervor  of  its  rays,  the  rank  and  noxious  vapors,  which, 
for  a  time,  becloud  its  glory. 


CHAPTER  VIIL 

PAPAL  BULL  OF  PARTITION — PREPARATIONS  FOR  A  SECOND 

VOYAGE  OF  COLUMBUS, 

[1493.] 

In  the  midst  of  their  rejoicings  the  Spanish  sovereigns  lost  no 
time  in  taking  every  measure  necessary  to  secure  their  new  ac¬ 
quisitions.  Although  it  was  supposed  that  the  countries  just 
discovered  were  part  of  the  territories  of  the  Grand  Khan,  and 
of  other  Oriental  princes  considerably  advanced  in  civilization, 
yet  there  does  not  appear  to  have  been  the  least  doubt  of  the 
right  of  their  Catholic  majesties  to  take  possession  of  them. 
During  the  Crusades  a  doctrine  had  been  established  among 
Christian  princes  extremely  favorable  to  their  ambitious  de¬ 
signs.  According  to  this,  they  had  the  right  to  invade,  ravage, 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


193 


and  seize  upon  the  territories  of  all  infidel  nations,  under  the 
plea  of  defeating  the  enemies  of  Christ,  and  extending  the  sway 
of  his  church  on  earth.  In  conformity  to  the  same  doctrine, 
the  pope,  from  his  supreme  authority  over  all  temporal  things, 
was  considered  as  empowered  to  dispose  of  all  heathen  lands  to 
such  potentates  as  would  engage  to  reduce  them  to  the  domin¬ 
ion  of  the  church,  and  to  propagate  the  true  faith  among  their 
benighted  inhabitants.  It  was  in  virtue  of  this  power  that 
Pope  Martin  V.  and  his  successors  had  conceded  to  the  crown 
of  Portugal  all  the  lands  it  might  discover  from  Cape  Bojador 
to  the  Indies;  and  the  Catholic  sovereigns,  in  a  treaty  con¬ 
cluded  in  1479  with  the  Portuguese  monarch,  had  engaged 
themselves  to  respect  the  territorial  rights  thus  acquired.  It 
was  to  this  treaty  that  John  II.  alluded,  in  his  conversation 
with  Columbus,  wherein  he  suggested  his  title  to  the  newly- 
discovered  countries. 

On  the  first  intelligence  received  from  the  admiral  of  his  suc¬ 
cess,  therefore,  the  Spanish  sovereigns  took  the  immediate  pre¬ 
caution  to  secure  the  sanction  of  the  pope.  Alexander  VI.  had 
recently  been  elevated  to  the  holy  chair ;  a  pontiff  whom  some 
historians  have  stigmatized  with  every  vice  and  crime  that 
could  disgrace  humanity,  but  whom  all  have  represented  as 
eminently  able  and  politic.  He  was  a  native  of  Valencia,  and 
being  born  a  subject  of  the  crown  of  Arragon,  it  might  be  in¬ 
ferred,  was  favorably  disposed  to  Ferdinand;  but  in  certain 
questions  which  had  come  before  him,  he  had  already  shown  a 
disposition  not  the  most  cordial  toward  the  Catholic  monarch. 
At  all  events,  Ferdinand  was  well  aware  of  his  worldly  and 
perfidious  character,  and  endeavored  to  manage  him  accord¬ 
ingly.  He  dispatched  ambassadors,  therefore,  to  the  court  of 
Rome,  announcing  the  new  discovery  as  an  extraordinary  tri¬ 
umph  of  the  faith ;  and  setting  forth  the  great  glory  and  gain 
which  must  redound  to  the  church  from  the  dissemination  of 
Christianity  throughout  these  vast  and  heathen  lands.  Care 
was  also  taken  to  state  that  the  present  discovery  did  not  in 
the  least  interfere  with  the  possessions  ceded  by  the  holy  chair 
to  Portugal,  all  which  had  been  sedulously  avoided.  Ferdi¬ 
nand,  who  was  at  least  as  politic  as  he  was  pious,  insinuated  a 
hint  at  the  same  time  by  which  the  pope  might  perceive  that 
he  was  determined,  at  all  events,  to  maintain  his  important  ac¬ 
quisitions.  His  ambassadors  were  instructed  to  state  that,  in 
the  opinion  of  many  learned  men,  these  newly-discovered  lands 
having  been  taken  possession  of  by  the  Catholic  sovereigns, 


194 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


their  title  to  the  same  did  not  require  the  papal  sanction ;  still, 
as  pious  princes,  obedient  to  the  holy  chair,  they  supplicated 
his  holiness  to  issue  a  bull,  making  a  concession  of  them,  and 
of  such  others  as  might  be  discovered,  to  the  crown  of  Castile. 

The  tidings  of  the  discovery  were  received,  in  fact,  with 
great  astonishment  and  no  less  exultation  by  the  court  of  Rome. 
The  Spanish  sovereigns  had  already  elevated  themselves  to 
high  consequence  in  the  eyes  of  the  church,  by  their  war 
against  the  Moors  of  Spain,  which  had  been  considered  in  the 
light  of  a  pious  crusade ;  and  though  richly  repaid  by  the  acqui¬ 
sition  of  the  kingdom  of  Granada,  it  was  thought  to  entitle 
them  to  the  gratitude  of  all  Christendom.  The  present  discov¬ 
ery  was  a  still  greater  achievement;  it  was  the  fulfilment  of 
one  of  the  sublime  promises  to  the  church ;  it  was  giving  to  it 
“  the  heathen  for  an  inheritance,  and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the 
earth  for  a  possession.”  No  difficulty,  therefore,  was  made  in 
granting  what  was  considered  but  a  modest  request  for  so  im¬ 
portant  a  service ;  though  it  is  probable  that  the  acquiescence 
of  the  worldly-minded  pontiff  was  quickened  by  the  insinua¬ 
tions  of  the  politic  monarch. 

A  bull  was  accordingly  issued,  dated  May  2d,  1493,  ceding  to 
the  Spanish  sovereigns  the  same  rights,  privileges,  and  indul¬ 
gences,  in  respect  to  the  newly-discovered  regions,  as  had  been 
accorded  to  the  Portuguese  with  regard  to  their  African  discov¬ 
eries,  under  the  same  condition  of  planting  and  propagating  the 
Catholic  faith.  To  prevent  any  conflicting  claims,  however, 
between  the  two  powers  in  the  wide  range  of  their  discoveries, 
another  bull  was  issued  on  the  folloAving  day,  containing  the 
famous  fine  qf  demarcation,  by  which  their  territories  were 
thought  to  be  clearly  and  permanently  defined.  This  was  an 
ideal  fine  drawn  from  the  north  to  the  south  pole,  a  hundred 
leagues  to  the  west  of  the  Azores,  and  the  Cape  de  Verde 
Islands.  All  land  discovered  by  the  Spanish  navigators  to  the 
west  of  this  line,  and  which  had  not  been  taken  possession  of 
by  any  Christian  power  before  the  preceding  Christmas,  was  to 
belong  to  the  Spanish  crown ;  all  land  discovered  in  the  con¬ 
trary  direction  was  to  belong  to  Portugal.  It  seems  never  to 
have  occurred  to  the  pontiff,  that,  by  pushing  their  opposite 
careers  of  discovery,  they  might  some  day  or  other  come  again 
in  collision,  and  renew  the  question  of  territorial  right  at  the 
antipodes. 

In  the  mean  time,  without  waiting  for  the  sanction  of  the 
court  of  Rome,  the  utmost  exertions  were  made  by  the  sover* 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


195 


eigns  to  fit  out  a  second  expedition.  To  insure  regularity  and 
dispatch  in  the  affairs  relative  to  the  New  World,  they  were 
placed  under  the  superintendence  of  Juan  Rodriguez  de  Fon¬ 
seca,  archdeacon  of  Seville,  who  was  successively  promoted  to 
the  sees  of  Bajadoz,  Palencia,  and  Burgos,  and  finally  appointed 
patriarch  of  the  Indies.  He  was  a  man  of  family  and  influence ; 
his  brothers  Alonzo  and  Antonio  were  seniors,  or  lords,  of  Coca 
and  Alaejos,  and  the  latter  was  comptroller-general  of  Castile. 
Juan  Rodriguez  de  Fonseca  is  represented  by  Las  Casas  as  a 
worldly  man,  more  calculated  for  temporal  than  spiritual 
concerns,  and  well  adapted  to  the  bustling  occupation  of  fitting 
out  and  manning  armadas.  Notwithstanding  the  high  ecclesi¬ 
astical  dignities  to  which  he  rose,  his  worldly  employments 
seem  never  to  have  been  considered  incompatible  with  his 
sacred  functions.  Enjoying  the  perpetual,  though  unmerited, 
favor  of  the  sovereigns,  he  maintained  the  control  of  Indian 
affairs  for  about  thirty  years.  He  must  undoubtedly  have 
possessed  talents  for  business,  to  insure  him  such  a  perpetuity 
of  office;  but  he  was  malignant  and  vindictive;  and  in  the 
gratification  of  his  private  resentments  not  only  heaped  wrongs 
and  sorrows  upon  the  most  illustrious  of  the  early  discoverers, 
but  frequently  impeded  the  progress  of  their  enterprises,  to  the 
great  detriment  of  the  crown.  This  he  was  enabled  to  do 
privately  and  securely  by  his  official  situation.  His  perfidious 
conduct  is  repeatedly  alluded  to,  but  in  guarded  terms,  by  con¬ 
temporary  writers  of  weight  and  credit,  such  as  the  curate  of 
Los  Palacios,  and  the  bishop  Las  Casas;  but  they  evidently 
were  fearful  of  expressing  the  fulness  of  their  feelings.  Sub¬ 
sequent  Spanish  historians,  always  more  or  less  controlled 
by  ecclesiastical  supervision,  have  likewise  dealt  too  favorably 
with  this  base-minded  man.  He  deserves  to  be  held  up  as  a 
warning  example  of  those  perfidious  beings  in  office,  who  too 
often  lie  like  worms  at  the  root  of  honorable  enterprise,  blight¬ 
ing,  by  their  unseen  influence,  the  fruits  of  glorious  action, 
and  disappointing  the  hopes  of  nations. 

To  assist  Fonseca  in  his  duties,  Francisco  Pinelo  was  associa¬ 
ted  with  him  as  treasurer,  and  Juan  de  Soria  as  contador,  or 
comptroller.  Their  office,  for  the  transaction  of  Indian  affairs, 
was  fixed  at  Seville ;  extending  its  vigilance  at  the  same  time  to 
the  port  of  Cadiz,  where  a  custom-house  was  established  for 
this  new  branch  of  navigation.  Such  was  the  germ  of  the 
Royal  India  House,  which  afterward  rose  to  such  great  power 
and  importance.  A  correspondent  office  was  ordered  to  be  insti- 


196 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COL  EMBUS. 


tilted  in  Hispaniola,  under  the  direction  of  the  admiral.  These 
officers  were  to  interchange  registers  of  the  cargoes,  crews,  and 
munition  of  each  ship,  by  accountants  who  sailed  with  it.  All 
persons  thus  employed  were  dependants  upon  the  two  comp- 
trollers-general,  superior  ministers  of  the  royal  revenue ;  since 
the  crown  was  to  be  at  all  the  expenses  of  the  colony,  and  to 
receive  all  the  emoluments. 

The  most  minute  and  rigorous  account  was  to  be  exacted  of 
all  expenses  and  proceeds,  and  the  most  vigilant  caution  ob¬ 
served  as  to  the  persons  employed  in  the  concerns  of  the  newly- 
discovered  lands.  No  one  was  permitted  to  go  there,  either  to 
trade  or  to  form  an  establishment,  without  express  license  from 
the  sovereigns,  from  Columbus,  or  from  Fonseca,  under  the 
heaviest  penalties.  The  ignorance  of  the  age  as  to  enlarged 
principles  of  commerce,  and  the  example  of  the  Portuguese  in 
respect  to  their  African  possessions,  have  been  cited  in  excuse 
of  the  narrow  and  jealous  spirit  here  manifested ;  but  it  always 
more  or  less  influenced  the  policy  of  Spain  in  her  colonial  regu¬ 
lations. 

Another  instance  of  the  despotic  sway  maintained  by  the 
crown  over  commerce,  is  manifested  in  a  royal  order,  that  ah 
ships  in  the  ports  of  Andalusia,  with  their  captains,  pilots,  and 
crews,  should  be  held  in  readiness  to  serve  in  this  expedition. 
Columbus  and  Fonseca  were  authorized  to  freight  or  purchase 
any  of  those  vessels  they  might  think  proper,  and  to  take  them 
by  force,  if  refused,  even  though  they  had  been  freighted  by 
other  persons,  paying  what  they  should  conceive  a  reasonable 
price.  They  were  furthermore  authorized  to  take  the  requisite 
provisions,  arms,  and  ammunition,  from  any  place  or  vessel  in 
which  they  might  be  found,  paying  a  fair  price  to  the  owners ; 
and  they  might  compel,  not  merely  mariners,  but  any  officer 
holding  any  rank  or  station  whatever,  whom  they  should  deem 
necessary  to  the  service,  to  embark  in  the  fleet  on  a  reasonable 
pay  and  salary.  The  civil  authorities,  and  all  persons  of  rank 
and  standing,  were  called  upon  to  render  all  requisite  aid  in 
expediting  the  armament,  and  warned  against  creating  any 
impediment,  under  penalty  of  privation  of  office  and  confisca¬ 
tion  of  estate. 

To  provide  for  the  expenses  of  the  expedition  the  royal 
revenue  arising  from  two  thirds  of  the  church-tithes  was 
placed  at  the  disposition  of  Pinelo ;  and  other  funds  were  drawn 
from  a  disgraceful  source — from  the  jewels  and  other  valuables, 
the  sequestrated  property  of  the  unfortunate  Jews,  banished 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


197 


from  the  kingdom,  according  to  a  bigoted  edict  of  the  preced¬ 
ing  year.  As  these  resources  were  still  inadequate,  Pinelo  was 
authorized  to  supply  the  deficiency  by  a  loan.  Requisitions 
were  likewise  made  for  provisions  of  all  kinds,  as  well  as  fo* 
artillery,  powder,  muskets,  lances,  corselets,  and  cross-bows. 
This  latter  weapon,  notwithstanding  the  introduction  of  fire¬ 
arms,  was  still  preferred  by  many  to  the  arquebus,  and  con¬ 
sidered  more  formidable  and  destructive,  the  other  having  to 
be  used  with  a  match-lock,  and  being  so  heavy  as  to  require  an 
iron  rest.  The  military  stores  which  had  accumulated  during 
the  war  with  the  Moors  of  Granada  furnished  a  great  part  of 
these  supplies.  Almost  all  the  preceding  orders  were  issued  by 
the  23d  of  May,  while  Columbus  was  yet  at  Barcelona.  Rarely 
has  there  been  witnessed  such  a  scene  of  activity  in  the  dilatory 
offices  of  Spain. 

As  the  conversion  of  the  heathens  was  professed  to  be  the 
grand  object  of  these  discoveries,  twelve  zealous  and  able 
ecclesiastics  were  chosen  for  the  purpose,  to  accompany  the 
expedition.  Among  these  was  Bernardo  Buyl  or  Boyle,  a  Bene¬ 
dictine  monk,  of  talent  and  reputed  sanctity,  but  one  of  those 
subtile  politicians  of  the  cloister,  who  in  those  days  glided  into 
all  temporal  concerns.  He  had  acquitted  himself  with  success 
in  recent  negotiations  with  France,  relative  to  the  restitution 
of  Rousillon.  Before  the  sailing  of  the  fleet,  he  was  appointed 
by  the  pope  his  apostolical  vicar  for  the  New  World,  and  placed 
as  superior  over  his  ecclesiastical  brethren.  This  pious  mission 
was  provided  with  all  things  necessary  for  the  dignified  per¬ 
formance  of  its  functions ;  the  queen  supplying  from  her  own 
chapel  the  ornaments  and  vestments  to  be  used  in  all  solemn 
ceremonies.  Isabella,  from  the  first,  took  the  most  warm  and 
compassionate  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the  Indians.  Won  by 
the  accounts  given  by  Columbus  of  their  gentleness  and  sim¬ 
plicity,  and  looking  upon  them  as  committed  by  Heaven  to  her 
especial  care,  her  heart  was  filled  with  concern  at  their  desti¬ 
tute  and  ignorant  condition.  She  ordered  that  great  care  should 
be  taken  of  their  religious  instruction ;  that  they  should  be 
treated  with  the  utmost  kh  'ness;  and  enjoined  Columbus  to 
inflict  signal  punishment  on  all  Spaniards  who  should  be  guilty 
ot  outrage  or  injustice  toward  them. 

By  way,  it  was  said,  of  offering  to  Heaven  the  first-fruits  of 
these  pagan  nations,  the  six  Indians  whom  Columbus  had 
brought  to  Barcelona  were  baptized  with  great  state  and  cere¬ 
mony;  the  king,  the  queen,  and^  Prince  Juan  officiating  as 


198 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


sponsors.  Great  hopes  were  entertained  that,  on  their  return 
to  their  native  country,  they  would  facilitate  the  introduction 
of  Christianity  among  their  countrymen.  One  of  them,  at  the 
request  of  Prince  Juan,  remained  in  his  household,  but  died  not 
long  afterward ;  a  Spanish  historian  remarked  that,  according 
to  what  ought  to  be  our  pious  belief,  he  was  the  first  of  his  na¬ 
tion  that  entered  heaven.* 

Before  the  departure  of  Columbus  from  Barcelona,  the  pro¬ 
visional  agreement  made  at  Santa  Fe  was  confirmed,  granting 
him  the  titles,  emoluments,  and  prerogatives  of  admiral,  viceroy, 
and  governor  of  all  the  countries  he  had  discovered,  or  might 
discover.  He  was  intrusted  also  with  the  royal  seal,  with  au¬ 
thority  to  use  the  name  of  their  majesties  in  granting  letters 
patent'  and  commissions  within  the  bounds  of  his  jurisdiction ; 
with  the  right  also,  in  case  of  absence,  to  appoint  a  person  in 
his  place,  and  to  invest  him,  for  the  time,  with  the  same 
powers. 

It  had  been  premised  in  the  agreement  that  for  all  vacant  of¬ 
fices  in  the  government  of  the  islands  and  main-land,  he  should 
nominate  three  candidates,  out  of  which  number  the  sovereign 
should  make  a  choice ;  but  now,  to  save  time,  and  to  show  their 
confidence  in  Columbus,  they  empowered  him  to  appoint  at 
once  such  persons  as  he  thought  proper,  who  were  to  hold  their 
offices  during  the  royal  pleasure.  He  had  likewise  the  title 
and  command  of  captain-general  of  the  armament  about  to  sail, 
with  unqualified  powers  as  to  the  government  of  the  crews,  the 
establishments  to  be  formed  in  the  New  World,  and  the  ulterior 
discoveries  to  be  undertaken. 

This  was  the  honeymoon  of  royal  favor,  during  which  Colum¬ 
bus  enjoyed  the  unbounded  and  well-merited  confidence  of  his 
sovereigns,  before  envious  minds  had  dared  to  insinuate  a  doubt 
of  his  integrity.  After  receiving  every  mark  of  public  hono: 
and  private  regard,  he  took  leave  of  the  sovereigns  on  the  2Sth 
of  May.  The  whole  court  accompanied  him  from  the  palace  to 
his  dwelling,  and  attended,  also,  to  pay  him  farewell  honors  on 
his  departure  from  Barcelona  for  Seville. 


*  Herrera,  Hist.  1*  d.,  decad.  i.  lib.  ii.  cap.  5. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLTJMBUS. 


199 


CHAPTER  IX. 

DIPLOMATIC  NEGOTIATIONS  BETWEEN  THE  COURTS  OF  SPAIN  ANP 
PORTUGAL  WITH  RESPECT  TO  THE  NEW  DISCOVERIES. 

[1493.] 

The  anxiety  of  the  Spanish  monarchy  for  the  speedy  depart- 
ure  of  the  expedition  was  heightened  by  the  proceedings  of  the 
court  of  Portugal.  John  II.  had  unfortunately  among  his  coun¬ 
cillors  certain  politicians  of  that  short-sighted  class,  who  mis¬ 
take  craft  for  wisdom.  By  adopting  their  perfidious  policy  he 
had  lost  the  New  World  when  it  was  an  object  of  honorable 
enterprise ;  in  compliance  with  their  advice,  he  now  sought  to 
retrieve  it  by  stratagem.  He  had  accordingly  prepared  a  large 
armament,  the  avowed  object  of  which  wras  an  expedition  to 
Africa,  but  its  real  destination  to  seize  upon  the  newly-dis¬ 
covered  countries.  To  lull  suspicion,  Don  Ruy  de  Sande  was 
sent  ambassador  to  the  Spanish  court,  requesting  permission 
to  procure  certain  prohibited  articles  from  Spain  for  this  Afri¬ 
can  voyage.  He  required  also  that  the  Spanish  sovereigns 
should  forbid  their  subjects  to  fish  beyond  Cape  Bojador,  until 
the  possessions  of  the  two  nations  should  be  properly  defined. 
The  discovery  of  Columbus,  the  real  object  of  solicitude,  was 
treated  as  an  incidental  affair.  The  manner  of  his  arrival  and 
reception  in  Portugal  was  mentioned  ;  the  congratulations  of 
King  John  on  the  happy  result  of  his  voyage  ;  his  sastisfaction 
at  finding  that  the  admiral  had  been  instructed  to  steer  west¬ 
ward  from  the  Canary  Islands,  and  his  hope  that  the  Castilian 
sovereigns  would  continue  to  enjoin  a  similar  track  on  their 
navigators — all  to  the  south  of  those  islands  being  granted  by 
papal  bull  to  the  crown  of  Portugal.  He  concluded  by  intimat¬ 
ing  the  entire  confidence  of  King  John,  that  should  any  of  the 
newly-discovered  islands  appertain  by  right  to  Portugal,  the 
matter  would  be  adjusted  in  that  spirit  of  amity  which  existed 
between  the  two  crowns. 

Ferdinand  was  too  wary  a  politician  to  be  easily  deceived. 
He  had  received  early  intelligence  of  the  real  designs  of  King 
John,  and  before  the  arrival  of  his  ambassador  had  himself  dis¬ 
patched  Don  Lope  de  Herrera  to  the  Portuguese  court,  furnished 
with  double  instructions,  and  with  twTo  letters  of  widely  opposite 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


200 

tenor.  The  first  was  couched  in  affectionate  terms,  acknowi 
edging  the  hospitality  and  kindness  shown  to  Columbus,  and 
communicating  the  nature  of  his  discoveries;  requesting  at  the 
same  time  that  the  Portuguese  navigators  might  be  prohibited 
from  visiting  those  newly-discovered  lands,  in  the  same  man¬ 
ner  that  the  Spanish  sovereigns  had  prohibited  their  subjects 
from  interfering  with  the  African  possessions  of  Portugal. 

In  case,  however,  the  ambassador  should  find  that  King  J ohn 
had  either  sent,  or  was  about  to  send,  vessels  to  the  New  World, 
he  was  to  withhold  the  amicable  letter,  and  present  the  other, 
couched  in  stern  and  peremptory  terms,  and  forbidding  any 
enterprise  of  the  kind.*  A  keen  diplomatic  game  ensued  be¬ 
tween  the  two  sovereigns,  perplexing  to  any  spectator  not  ac¬ 
quainted  with  the  secret  of  their  play.  Resende,  in  his  history 
of  King  John  II.,  informs  us  that  the  Portuguese  monarch,  by 
large  presents,  or  rather  bribes,  held  certain  of  the  confidential 
members  of  the  Castilian  cabinet  in  his  interest,  who  informed 
him  of  the  most  secret  councils  of  their  court.  The  roads  were 
thronged  with  couriers ;  scarce  was  an  intention  expressed  by 
Ferdinand  to  his  ministers,  but  it  was  conveyed  to  his  rival 
monarch.  The  result  was  that  the  Spanish  sovereigns  seemed 
as  if  under  the  influence  of  some  enchantment.  King  John  an¬ 
ticipated  all  their  movements,  and  appeared  to  dive  into  their 
very  thoughts.  Their  ambassadors  were  crossed  on  the  road 
by  Portuguese  ambassadors,  empowered  to  settle  the  very 
points  about  which  they  were  going  to  make  remonstrances. 
Frequently,  when  Ferdinand  proposed  a  sudden  and  perplexing 
question  to  the  envoys  at  his  court,  which  apparently  would 
require  fresh  instructions  from  the  sovereigns,  he  would  be  as¬ 
tonished  by  a  prompt  and  positive  reply ;  most  of  the  questions 
wmch  were  likely  to  occur  having,  through  secret  information, 
been  foreseen  and  provided  for.  As  a  surmise  of  treachery  in 
the  cabinet  might  naturally  arise,  King  John,  while  he  reward¬ 
ed  his  agents  in  secret,  endeavored  to  divert  suspicions  from 
them  upon  others,  making  rich  presents  of  jewels  to  the  Duke 
de  Infantado  and  other  Spanish  grandees  of  incorruptible  in¬ 
tegrity.  f 

Such  is  the  intriguing  diplomatic  craft  which  too  often  passes 
for  refined  policy,  and  is  extolled  as  the  wisdom  of  the  cabinet; 


*  Herrera,  Hist.  Ind.,  decad.  i.  lib.  ii.  Zurita,  Anales  de  Aragon,  lib.  i.  cap.  25. 

+  Resende,  Vida  del  Rey  Dom  Joam  H.,  cap.  157.  Faria  y  Souza,  Europa  Portu- 
Ifuesa,  tom.  b.  cap.  4,  p-  3. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


201 


but  all  corrupt  and  disingenuous  measures  are  unworthy  of  an 
enlightened  politician  and  a  magnanimous  prince.  The  grand 
principles  of  right  and  wrong  operate  in  the  same  way  between 
nations  as  between  individuals ;  fair  and  open  conduct,  and  in¬ 
violable  faith,  however  they  may  appear  adverse  to  present 
purposes,  are  the  only  kind  of  policy  that  will  insure  ultimate 
and  honorable  success. 

King  John,  having  received  intelligence  in  the  furtive  manner 
that  has  been  mentioned,  of  the  double  instructions  furnished 
to  Don  Lope  de  Herrera,  received  him  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
prevent  any  resort  to  his  peremptory  letter.  He  had  already 
dispatched  an  extra  envoy  to  the  Spanish  court  to  keep  it  in 
good  humor,  and  he  now  appointed  Doctor  Pero  Diaz  and  Don 
Buy  de  Pena  ambassadors  to  the  Spanish  sovereigns,  to  adjust 
all  questions  relative  to  the  new  discoveries,  and  promised  that 
no  vessel  should  be  permitted  to  sail  on  a  voyage  of  discovery 
within  sixty  days  after  their  arrival  at  Barcelona. 

These  ambassadors  were  instructed  to  propose,  as  a  mode  of 
effectually  settling  all  claims,  that  a  line  should  be  drawn  from 
the  Canaries  due  west ;  all  lands  and  seas  north  of  it  to  apper¬ 
tain  to  the  Castilian  court ;  all  south  to  the  crown  of  Portugal, 
excepting  any  islands  already  in  possession  of  either  powers.* 

Ferdinand  had  now  the  vantage-ground ;  his  object  was  to 
gain  time  for  the  preparation  and  departure  of  Columbus,  by 
entangling  King  John  in  long  diplomatic  negotiations.!  In  re¬ 
ply  to  his  proposals,  he  dispatched  Don  Pedro  de  Ayala  and 
Don  Garcia  Lopez  de  Caravajal  on  a  solemn  embassy  to  Portu¬ 
gal,  in  which  there  was  great  outward  pomp  and  parade,  and 
many  professions  of  amity,  but  the  whole  purport  of  which  was 
to  propose  to  submit  the  territorial  questions  which  had  risen 
between  them  to  arbitration  or  to  the  court  of  Pome.  This 
stately  embassy  moved  with  becoming  slowness,  but  a  special 
envoy  was  sent  in  advance  to  apprise  the  king  of  Portugal  of 
its  approach,  in  order  to  keep  him  waiting  for  its  communica¬ 
tions. 

King  John  understood  the  whole  nature  and  object  of  the  em¬ 
bassy,  and  felt  that  Ferdinand  was  foiling  him.  The  ambassa¬ 
dors  at  length  arrived,  and  delivered  their  credentials  with 
great  form  and  ceremony.  As  they  retired  from  his  presence, 
he  looked  after  them  contemptuously:  “This  embassy  from 


*  Zurita,  lib.  i.  cap.  25.  Herrera,  decad.  1,  Ub.  it  pap.  5. 
t  Vasconcelos,  Don  Juan  U.,  lib.  vi. 


202 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


our  cousin,”  said  he,  “wants  both  head  and  feet.”  He  alluded 
to  the  character  both  of  the  mission  and  the  envoys.  Don 
Garcia  de  Caravajal  was  vain  and  frivolous,  and  Don  Pedro  de 
Ayala  was  lame  of  one  leg.* 

In  the  height  of  his  vexation,  King  John  is  even  said  to  have 
held  out  some  vague  show  of  hostile  intentions,  taking  occasion 
to  let  the  ambassadors  discover  him  reviewing  his  cavalry  and 
dropping  ambiguous  words  in  their  hearing,  which  might  be 
construed  into  something  of  menacing  import.!  The  embassy 
returned  to  Castile,  leaving  him  in  a  state  of  perplexity  and 
irritation;  but  whatever  might  be  his  chagrin,  his  discretion 
prevented  him  from  coming  to  an  open  rupture.  He  had  some 
hopes  of  interference  on  the  part  of  the  pope,  to  whom  he  had 
sent  an  embassy,  complaining  of  the  pretended  discoveries  of 
the  Spaniards,  as  infringing  the  territories  granted  to  Portu¬ 
gal  by  papal  bull,  and  earnestly  imploring  redress.  Here,  as 
has  been  shown,  his  wary  antagonist  had  been  beforehand  with 
him,  and  he  was  doomed  again  to  be  foiled.  The  only  reply 
his  ambassador  received,  was  a  reference  to  the  line  of  partition 
from  pole  to  pole,  so  sagely  devised  by  his  holiness.  X  Such  was 
this  royal  game  of  diplomacy,  where  the  parties  were  playing 
for  a  newly-discovered  world.  John  II.  was  able  and  intelli¬ 
gent,  and  had  crafty  councillors  to  advise  him  in  all  his  moves ; 
but  whenever  deep  and  subtle  policy  was  required,  Ferdinand 
was  master  of  the  game. 


CHAPTER  X. 

FURTHER  PREPARATIONS  FOR  THE  SECOND  VOYAGE— CHARACTER 
OF  ALONSO  DE  OJEDA — DIFFERENCE  OF  COLUMBUS  WITH  SORIA 
AND  FONSECA. 

[1493.] 

Distrustful  of  some  attempt  on  the  part  of  Portugal  to  in¬ 
terfere  with  their  discoveries,  the  Spanish  sovereigns,  in  the 
course  of  their  negotiations,  wrote  repeatedly  to  Columbus, 
urging  him  to  hasten  his  departure.  His  zeal,  however,  needed 
no  incitement;  immediately  on  arriving  at  Seville,  in  the 


*  Vasconcelos,  lib.  vi.  Barros,  Asia,  d.  i ,  lib,  iii.  cap.  2. 
t  Vasconcelos,  lib.  vi. 
f  Herrera,  decad.  i.,  lib,  ii.  cap.  5. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


203 


beginning  of  June,  he  proceeded  with  all  diligence  to  fit  out  the 
armament,  making  use  of  the  powers  given  him  to  put  in  re¬ 
quisition  the  ships  and  crews  which  were  in  the  harbors  of 
Andalusia.  He  was  joined  soon  after  by  Fonseca  and  Soria, 
who  had  remained  for  a  time  at  Barcelona;  and  with  their 
united  exertions,  a  fleet  of  seventeen  vessels,  large  and  small, 
was  soon  in  a  state  of  preparation.  The  best  pilots  were 
chosen  for  the  service,  and  the  crews  were  mustered  in  pres¬ 
ence  of  Soria  the  comptroller.  A  number  of  skilful  husband¬ 
men,  miners,  carpenters,  and  other  mechanics  were  engaged 
for  the  projected  colony.  Horses,  both  for  military  purposes 
and  for  stocking  the  country,  cattle,  and  domestic  animals  of 
all  kinds,  were  likewise  provided.  Grain,  seeds  of  various 
plants,  vines,  sugar-canes,  grafts,  and  saplings,  were  embarked, 
together  with  a  great  quantity  ot  merchandise,  consisting  of 
trinkets,  beads,  hawks’  bells,  looking-glasses,  and  other  showy 
trifles,  calculated  for  trafficking  with  the  natives.  Nor  was 
there  wanting  an  abundant  supply  of  provisions  of  all  sorts, 
munitions  of  war,  and  medicines  and  refreshments  for  the 
sick. 

An  extraordinary  degree  of  excitement  prevailed  respecting 
this  expedition.  The  most  extravagant  fancies  were  enter¬ 
tained  with  respect  to  the  New  World.  The  accounts  given  by 
the  voyagers  who  had  visited  it  were  full  of  exaggeration ;  for 
in  fact  they  had  nothing  but  vague  and  confused  notions  con¬ 
cerning  it,  like  the  recollection  a  dream,  and  it  has  been 
shown  that  Columbus  himself  had  beheld  everything  through 
the  most  delusive  medium.  The  vivacity  of  his  descriptions, 
and  the  sanguine  anticipations  of  his  ardent  spirit,  while  they 
roused  the  public  to  a  wonderful  degree  of  enthusiasm,  prepared 
the  way  for  bitter  disappointment.  The  cupidity  of  the  avari¬ 
cious  was  inflamed  with  the  idea  of  regions  of  unappropriated 
wealth,  where  the  rivers  rolled  over  golden  sands,  and  the 
mountains  teemed  with  gems  and  precious  metals ;  where  the 
groves  produced  spices  and  perfumes,  and  the  shores  of  the 
ocean  were  sown  with  pearl.  Others  had  conceived  visions  of 
a  loftier  kind.  It  was  a  romantic  and  stirring  age,  and  the 
wars  with  the  Moors  being  over,  and  hostilities  with  the 
French  suspended,  the  bold  and  restless  spirits  of  the  nation, 
impatient  of  the  monotony  of  peaceful  life,  were  eager  for  em¬ 
ployment.  To  these  the  New  World  presented  a  vast  field  for 
wild  enterprise  and  extraordinary  adventure,  so  congenial  to 
the  Spanish  character  in  that  period  of  its  meridian  fervor  and 


204 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


brilliancy.  Many  hidalgos  of  high  rank,  officers  of  the  royal 
household,  and  Andalusian  cavaliers,  schooled  in  arms,  and 
inspired  with  a  passion  for  hardy  achievements  by  the  roman¬ 
tic  wars  of  Granada,  pressed  into  the  expedition,  some  in  the 
royal  service,  others  at  their  own  cost.  To  them  it  was  the 
commencement  of  a  new  series  of  crusades,  surpassing  in  ex¬ 
tent  and  splendor  the  chivalrous  enterprises  to  the  Holy  Land. 
They  pictured  to  themselves  vast  and  beautiful  islands  of  the 
ocean  to  he  overrun  and  subdued ;  their  internal  wonders  to  be 
explored,  and  the  banner  of  the  cross  to  be  planted  on  the 
walls  of  the  cities  they  were  supposed  to  contain.  Thence  they 
were  to  make  their  way  to  the  shores  of  India,  or  rather  Asia, 
penetrate  into  Mangi  and  Cathay,  convert,  or  what  was  the 
same  thing,  conquer  the  Grand  Khan,  and  thus  open  a  glorious 
career  of  arms  among  the  splendid  countries  and  semi-barbar¬ 
ous  nations  of  the  East.  Thus,  no  one  had  any  definite  idea  of 
the  object  or  nature  of  the  service  on  which  he  was  embarking, 
or  the  situation  and  character  of  the  region  to  which  he  was 
bound.  Indeed,  duiing  this  fever  of  the  imagination,  had 
sober  facts  and  cold  realities  been  presented,  they  would  have 
been  rejected  with  disdain;  for  there  is  nothing  of  which  the 
public  is  more  impatient  than  of  being  disturbed  in  the  indul¬ 
gence  of  any  of  its  golden  dreams. 

Among  the  noted  personages  who  engaged  in  the  expedition 
was  a  young  cavalier  of  the  name  of  Don  Alonso  de  Ojeda, 
celebrated  for  his  extraordinary  personal  endowments  and  his 
daring  spirit ;  and  who  distinguished  himself  among  the  early 
discoverers  by  many  perilous  expeditions  and  singular  exploits. 
He  was  of  a  good  family,  cousin-german  to  the  venerable 
Father  Alonso  de  Ojeda,  Inquisitor  of  Spain;  had  been  brought 
up  under  the  patronage  of  the  Duke  of  Medina  Celi,  and  had 
served  in  the  wars  against  the  Moors.  He  was  of  small  stature, 
but  vigorous  make,  well  proportioned,  dark  complexioned,  of 
handsome,  animated  countenance,  and  incredible  strength  and 
agility.  Expert  at  all  kinds  of  weapons,  accomplished  in  all 
manly  and  warlike  exercises,  an  admirable  horseman,  and  a 
partisan  soldier  of  the  highest  order;  bold  of  heart,  free  of 
spirit,  open  of  hand ;  fierce  in  fight,  quick  in  brawl,  but  ready 
to  forgive  and  prone  to  forget  an  injury;  he  was  for  a  long 
time  the  idol  of  the  rash  and  roving  youth  who  engaged  in  the 
early  expeditions  to  the  New  World,  and  has  been  made  the 
hero  of  many  wonderful  tales.  On  introducing  him  to  histori¬ 
cal  notice,  Las  Casas  gives  an  anecdote  of  one  of  his  exploits, 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS.  205 

which  would  be  unworthy  of  record,  but  that  it  exhibits  the 
singular  character  of  the  man. 

Queen  Isabella  being  in  the  tower  of  the  cathedral  of  Seville, 
better  known  as  the  Giralda,  Ojeda,  to  entertain  her  majesty, 
and  to  give  proofs  of  his  courage  and  agility,  mounted  on  a 
groat  beam  which  projected  in  the  air,  twenty  feet  from  the 
tower,  at  such  an  immense  height  from  the  ground,  that  the 
people  below  looked  like  dwarfs,  and  it  was  enough  to  make 
Ojeda  himself  shudder  to  look  down.  Along  this  beam  he 
walked  briskly,  and  with  as  much  confidence  as  though  he  had 
been  pacing  his  chamber.  When  arrived  at  the  end,  he  stood 
on  one  leg,  lifting  the  other  in  the  air;  then  turning  nimbly 
round,  he  returned  in  the  same  way  to  the  tower,  unaffected 
by  the  giddy  height,  whence  the  least  false  step  would  have 
precipitated  him  and  dashed  him  to  pieces.  lie  afterward 
stood  with  one  foot  on  the  beam,  and  placing  the  other  against 
the  wall  of  the  building,  threw  an  orange  to  the  summit  of  the 
tower,  a  proof,  says  Las  Casas,  of  immense  muscular  strength. 
Such  was  Alonso  de  Ojeda,  who  soon  became  conspicuous 
among  the  followers  of  Columbus,  and  was  always  foremost  in 
every  enterprise  of  an  adventurous  nature ;  who  courted  peril 
as  if  for  the  very  love  of  danger,  and  seemed  to  fight  more  for 
the  pleasure  of  fighting  than  for  the  sake  of  distinction.* 

The  number  of  persons  permitted  to  embark  in  the  expe¬ 
dition  had  been  limited  to  one  thousand;  but  such  was  the 
urgent  application  of  volunteers  to  be  allowed  to  enlist  without 
pay,  that  the  number  had  increased  to  twelve  hundred.  Many 
more  were  refused  for  want  of  room  in  the  ships  for  their 
accommodation,  but  some  contrived  to  get  admitted  by  stealth, 
so  that  eventually  about  fifteen  hundred  set  sail  in  the  fleet. 
As  Columbus,  in  his  laudable  zeal  for  the  welfare  of  the  enter¬ 
prise,  provided  everything  that  might  be  necessary  in  various 
possible  emergencies,  the  expenses  of  the  outfit  exceeded  what 
had  been  anticipated.  This  gave  rise  to  occasional  demurs  on 
the  part  of  the  comptroller,  Juan  de  Soria,  who  sometimes  re¬ 
fused  to  sign  the  accounts  of  the  admiral,  and  in  the  course  of 
their  transactions  seemed  to  have  forgotten  the  deference  due 
both  to  his  character  and  station.  For  this  he  received  re¬ 
peated  and  severe  reprimands  from  the  sovereigns,  who  em¬ 
phatically  commanded  that  Columbus  should  be  treated  with 


*  Las  Casas,  lib,  i.,  ms.  Pizarro,  Varones  Illustres.  Herrera,  Hist.  Ind.,  decad.  I 
lib.  ii.  cap.  & 


206 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS, 


the  greatest  respect,  and  everything  done  to  facilitate  his  plans 
and  yield  him  satisfaction.  From  similar  injunctions  inserted 
in  the  royal  letters  to  Fonseca,  the  archdeacon  of  Seville,  it  is 
probable  that  he  also  had  occasionally  indulged  in  the  captious 
exercise  of  his  official  powers.  He  appears  to  have  demurred 
to  various  requisitions  of  Columbus,  particularly  one  for  foot¬ 
men  and  other  domestics  for  his  immediate  service,  to  form  Ids 
household  and  retinue  as  admiral  and  viceroy;  a  demand 
which  was  considered  superfluous  by  the  prelate,  as  all  who  em¬ 
barked  m  the  expedition  were  at  his  command.  In  reply,  the 
sovereigns  ordered  that  he  should  be  allowed  ten  escuderos  de  d 
pie ,  or  footmen,  and  twenty  persons  in  other  domestic  capacities, 
and  reminded  Fonseca  of  their  charge  that,  both  in  the  nature 
and  mode  of  his  transactions  with  the  admiral,  he  should  study 
to  give  him  content  •  observing  that,  as  the  whole  armament 
was  intrusted  to  his  command,  it  was  but  reasonable  that  his 
wishes  should  be  consulted,  and  no  one  embarrass  him  with 
punctilios  a^d  difficulties.* 

These  trivial  differences  are  worthy  of  particular  notice, 
from  the  effect  they  appear  to  have  had  on  the  mind  of 
Fonseca,  for  from  them  we  must  date  the  rise  of  that  singular 
hostility  which  he  ever  afterward  manifested  toward  Colum¬ 
bus  ;  which  every  year  increased  in  rancor,  and  which  he  gra¬ 
tified  in  the  most  invidious  manner,  by  secretly  multiplying 
impediments  and  vexations  in  his  path. 

While  the  expedition  was  yet  fingering  in  port,  intelligence 
was  received  that  a  Portuguese  caravel  had  set  sail  from 
Madeira  and  steered  for  the  west.  Suspicions  were  imme¬ 
diately  awakened  that  she  was  bound  for  the  lately-discovered 
lands.  Columbus  wrote  an  account  of  it  to  the  sovereigns,  and 
proposed  to  dispatch  a  part  of  his  fleet  in  pursuit  of  her.  His 
proposition  was  approved,  but  not  carried  into  effect.  On  re¬ 
monstrances  being  made  to  the  court  of  Lisbon,  King  John 
declared  that  the  vessel  had  sailed  without  his  permission,  and 
that  he  would  send  three  caravels  to  bring  her  back.  This 
only  served  to  increase  the  jealousy  of  the  Spanish  monarchs, 
who  considered  the  whole  a  deep-laid  stratagem,  and  that  it 
was  intended  the  vessels  should  join  their  forces,  and  pursue 
their  course  together  to  the  New  World.  Columbus  was 
urged,  therefore,  to  depart  without  an  hour’s  delay,  and  in¬ 
structed  to  steer  wide  of  Cape  St.  Vincent,  and  entirely  avoid 


*  Navarrete,  Coleo,,  tom,  U,  Pocumeaitos,  No,  62-66, 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


207 


the  Portuguese  coasts  and  islands,  for  fear  of  molestation.  If 
he  met  with  any  vessels  in  the  seas  he  had  explored,  he  was  to 
seize  them,  and  inflict  rigorous  punishment  on  the  crews. 
Fonseca  was  also  ordered  to  be  on  the  alert,  and  in  case  any 
expedition  sailed  from  Portugal  to  send  double  the  force  after  it. 
These  precautions,  however,  proved  unnecessary.  Whether 
such  caravels  actually  did  sail,  and  whether  they  were  sent 
with  sinister  motives  by  Portugal,  does  not  appear;  nothing 
was  either  seen  or  heard  of  them  by  Columbus  in  the  course  of 
his  voyage. 

It  may  be  as  well,  for  the  sake  of  distinctness,  to  anticipate, 
in  this  place,  the  regular  course  of  history,  and  mention  the 
manner  in  which  this  territorial  question  was  finally  settled 
between  the  rival  sovereigns.  It  was  impossible  for  King 
John  to  repress  his  disquiet  at  the  indefinite  enterprises  of 
the  Spanish  monarchs;  he  did  not  know  how  far  they  might 
extend,  and  whether  they  might  not  forestall  him  in  all  his 
anticipated  discoveries  in  India.  Finding,  however,  all  at¬ 
tempts  fruitless  to  gain  by  stratagem  an  advantage  over  his 
wary  and  skilful  antagonist,  and  despairing  of  any  further 
assistance  from  the  court  of  Rome,  he  had  recourse,  at  last,  to 
fair  and  amicable  negotiations,  and  found,  as  is  generally  the 
case  with  those  who  turn  aside  into  the  inviting  but  crooked 
paths  of  craft,  that  had  he  kept  to  the  line  of  frank  and  open 
policy,  he  would  have  saved  himself  a  world  of  perplexity,  and 
have  arrived  sooner  at  his  object.  He  offered  to  leave  to  the 
Spanish  sovereigns  the  free  prosecution  of  their  western  dis¬ 
covery,  and  to  conform  to  the  plan  of  partition  by  a  meridian 
line;  but  he  represented  that  this  line  had  not  been  drawn 
far  enough  to  the  west ;  that  while  it  left  the  wide  ocean  free 
to  the  range  of  Spanish  enterprise,  his  navigators  could  not 
venture  more  than  a  hundred  leagues  west  of  his  possessions, 
and  had  no  scope  or  sea-room  for  their  southern  voyages. 

After  much  difficulty  and  discussion,  this  momentous  dis¬ 
pute  was  adjusted  by  deputies  from  the  two  crowns,  who  met 
at  Tordesillas  in  Old  Castile,  in  the  following  year,  and  on  the 
7th  of  June,  1494,  signed  a  treaty  by  which  the  papal  line  of 
partition  was  moved  to  three  hundred  and  seventy  leagues 
west  of  the  Cape  de  Yerde  Islands.  It  was  agreed  chat  within 
six  months  an  equal  number  of  caravels  and  mariners,  on  the 
part  of  the  two  nations,  should  rendezvous  at  the  island  of 
the  Grand  Canary,  provided  with  men  learned  in  astronomy 
and  navigation.  They  were  to  proceed  thence  to  the  Cape  de 


20S 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


Verde  Islands,  and  thence  westward  three  hundred  and  3ev« 
enty  leagues,  and  determine  the  proposed  line  from  pole  to 
pole,  dividing  the  ocean  between  the  two  nations.*  Each  of 
the  two  powers  engaged  solemnly  to  observe  the  bounds  thus 
prescribed,  and  to  prosecute  no  enterprise  beyond  its  proper 
limits;  though  it  was  agreed  that  the  Spanish  navigators 
might  traverse  freely  the  eastern  parts  of  the  ocean  in  prose¬ 
cuting  their  rightful  voyages.  Various  circumstances  im¬ 
peded  the  proposed  expedition  to  determine  the  line,  but  the 
treaty  remained  in  force,  and  prevented  all  further  discus¬ 
sions. 

Thus,  says  Vasconcelos,  this  great  question,  the  greatest  ever 
agitated  between  the  two  crowns,  for  it  was  the  partition  of  a 
new  world,  was  amicably  settled  by  the  prudence  and  address 
of  two  of  the  most  politic  monarchs  that  ever  swayed  the  scep¬ 
tre.  It  was  arranged  to  the  satisfaction  of  both  parties,  each 
holding  himself  entitled  to  the  vast  countries  that  might  be 
discovered  within  his  boundary,  without  any  regard  to  the 
rights  of  the  native  inhabitants. 


*  Zurita,  Hist,  del  Hey  remand.,  lib.  i.  cap.  29.  Vasconcelos,  lib-  Yi 


BOOK  VI. 


CHAPTER  I. 

DEPARTURE  OF  COLUMBUS  ON  HIS  SECOND  VOYAGE— DISCOVERY 

OF  THE  CARIBBEE  ISLANDS. 

[1493.] 

The  departure  of  Columbus  on  his  second  voyage  of  dis¬ 
covery  presented  a  brilliant  contrast  to  his  gloomy  embarka¬ 
tion  at  Palos.  On  the  25th  of  September,  at  the  dawn  of  day, 
the  Bay  of  Cadiz  was  whitened  by  his  fleet.  There  were 
three  large  ships  of  heavy  burden,*  and  fourteen  caravels, 
loitering  with  flapping  sails,  and  awaiting  the  signal  to  get 
under  way.  The  harbor  resounded  with  the  well-known  note 
of  the  sailor,  hoisting  sail  or  weighing  anchor ;  a  motley  crowd 
were  hurrying  on  board,  and  taking  leave  of  their  friends  in  the 
confidence  of  a  prosperous  voyage  and  triumphant  return. 
There  was  the  high-spirited  cavalier,  bound  on  romantic  enter¬ 
prise;  the  hardy  navigator,  ambitious  of  acquiring  laurels  in 
these  unknown  seas;  the  roving  adventurer,  seeking  novelty 
and  excitement;  the  keen,  calculating  speculator,  eager  to 
profit  by  the  ignorance  of  savage  tribes ;  and  the  pale  mission¬ 
ary  from  the  cloister,  anxious  to  extend  the  dominion  of  the 
church,  or  devoutly  zealous  for  the  propagation  of  the  faith. 
All  were  full  of  animation  and  lively  hope.  Instead  of  being 
regarded  by  the  populace  as  devoted  men,  bound  upon  a  dark 
and  desperate  enterprise,  they  were  contemplated  with  envy, 
as  favored  mortals,  bound  to  golden  regions  and  happy  climes, 
where  nothing  but  wealth  and  wonder  and  delights  awaited 


*  Peter  Martyr  Bays  they  were  carracks  (a  large  species  of  merchant  vessel,  prin 
cipally  used  in  coasting  trade),  of  one  hundred  tons  burden,  and  that  two  of  the 
caravels  were  much  larger  than  the  rest,  and  more  capable  of  bearing  decks  from 
the  size  of  their  masts.— Decad.  i.  lib.  i. 


210 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


them.  Columbus,  conspicuous  for  his  height  and  his  com¬ 
manding  appearance,  was  attended  by  his  two  sons,  Diego  and 
Fernando,  the  eldest  but  a  stripling,  who  had  come  to  witness 
his  departure,* * * §  both  proud  of  the  glory  of  their  father.  When¬ 
ever  he  passed,  every  eye  followed  him  with  admiration,  and 
every  tongue  praised  and  blessed  him.  Before  sunrise  the 
whole  fleet  was  under  way ;  the  weather  was  serene  and  pro¬ 
pitious,  and  as  the  populace  watched  their  parting  sails  bright- 
ening  in  the  morning  beams,  they  looked  forward  to  their  joy¬ 
ful  return  laden  with  the  treasures  of  the  New  World. 

According  to  the  instructions  of  the  sovereigns,  Columbus 
steered  wide  of  the  coasts  of  Portugal  and  of  its  islands, 
standing  to  the  south-west  of  the  Canaries,  where  he  ar¬ 
rived  on  the  1st  of  October.  After  touching  at  the  Grand 
Canary,  he  anchored  on  the  5th  at  Gomera,  to  take  in  a  supply 
of  wood  and  water.  Here  also  he  purchased  calves,  goats,  and 
sheep,  to  stock  the  island  of  Hispaniola ;  and  eight  hogs,  from 
which,  according  to  Las  Casas,  the  infinite  number  of  swine 
was  propagated,  with  which  the  Spanish  settlements  in  the 
New  World  subsequently  abounded.  A  number  of  domestic 
fowls  were  likewise  purchased,  which  were  the  origin  of  the 
species  in  the  New  World;  and  the  same  might  be  said  of  the 
seeds  of  oranges,  lemons,  bergamots,  melons,  and  various 
orchard  fruits,  f  which  were  thus  first  introduced  into  the  isl¬ 
ands  of  the  west,  from  the  Hesperides  or  Fortunate  Islands  of 
the  Old  World.  % 

On  the  7th,  when  about  to  sail,  Columbus  gave  to  the  com¬ 
mander  of  each  vessel  a  sealed  letter  of  instructions,  in  which 
was  specified  his  route  to  the  harbor  of  Nativity,  the  residence 
of  the  cacique  Guacanagari.  This  was  only  to  be  opened  in 
case  of  being  separated  by  accident,  as  he  wished  to  make  a 
mystery,  as  long  as  possible,  of  the  exact  route  to  the  newly- 
discovered  country,  lest  adventurers  of  other  nations,  and  par¬ 
ticularly  the  Portuguese,  should  follow  in  his  track,  and  inter¬ 
fere  with  his  enterprises^ 

After  making  sail  from  Gomera,  they  were  becalmed  for  a 


*  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  44. 

t  Las  Casas,  Hist.  Ind.,  lib.  i.  cap.  83. 

X  Humboldt  is  of  opinion  that  there  were  wild  oranges,  small  and  bitter,  as  well  aa 
wild  lemons,  in  the  New  World,  prior  to  the  discovery.  Caldcleugh  also  mentions 
that  the  Brazilians  consider  the  small  bitter  wild  orange  of  native  origin. — Hum¬ 
boldt,  Essai  Politique  sur  l’lsle  de  Cuba,  tom.  i.  p.  68. 

§  Las  Casas,  M.  Sup. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


211 


few  days  among  the  Canaries,  until,  on  the  13th  of  October,  a 
fair  breeze  sprang  up  from  the  east,  which  soon  carried  them 
out  of  sight  of  the  island  of  Ferro.  Columbus  held  his  course 
to  the  south-west,  intending  to  keep  considerably  more  to  the 
southward  than  in  his  first  voyage,  in  hopes  of  falhng  in  with 
the  islands  of  the  Caribs,  of  which  he  had  received  such  vague 
and  wonderful  accounts  from  the  Indians.*  Being  in  the 
region  of  the  trade-winds,  the  breeze  continued  fair  and  steady, 
with  a  quiet  sea  and  pleasant  weather,  and  by  the  24th  they 
had  made  four  hundred  and  fifty  leagues  west  of  Gomera,  with¬ 
out  seeing  any  of  those  fields  of  sea- weeds  encountered  within  a 
much  less  distance  on  their  first  voyage.  At  that  time  their 
appearance  was  important,  and  almost  providential,  inspiring 
continual  hope,  and  enticing  them  forward  in  their  dubious  en¬ 
terprise.  Now  they  needed  no  such  signals,  being  full  of  con¬ 
fidence  and  lively  anticipation,  and  on  seeing  a  swallow  cir¬ 
cling  about  the  ships,  and  being  visited  occasionally  by  sudden 
showers,  they  began  to  look  out  cheerily  for  land. 

Toward  the  latter  part  of  October  they  had  in  the  night  a 
gust  of  heavy  rain,  accompanied  by  the  severe  thunder  and 
lightning  of  the  tropics.  It  lasted  for  four  hours,  and  they 
considered  themselves  in  much  peril,  until  they  beheld  several 
of  those  lambent  flames  playing  about  the  tops  of  the  masts, 
and  gliding  along  the  rigging,  which  have  always  been  objects 
of  superstitious  fancies  among  sailors.  Fernando  Columbus 
makes  remarks  on  them  strongly  characteristic  of  the  age  in 
which  he  lived.  “On  the  same  Saturday,  in  the  night,  was 
seen  St.  Elmo,  with  seven  lighted  tapers  at  the  topmast :  there 
was  much  rain  and  great  thunder ;  I  mean  to  say,  that  those 
lights  were  seen,  which  mariners  affirm  to  be  the  body  of  St. 
Elmo,  on  beholding  which  they  chant  litanies  and  orisons, 
holding  it  for  certain,  that  in  the  tempest  in  which  he  appears, 
no  one  is  in  danger.  Be  that  as  it  may,  I  leave  the  matter  to 
them ;  but  if  we  may  believe  Pliny,  similar  lights  have  some¬ 
times  appeared  to  the  Roman  mariners  during  tempests  at  sea, 
which  they  said  were  Castor  and  Pollux,  of  which  likewise 
Seneca  makes  mention.”! 


*  Letter  of  Dr.  Chanca. 

t  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  45.  A  similar  mention  is  made  of  this  nautical  super¬ 
stition  in  the  voyage  of  Magellan.  “During  these  great  storms,  they  said  that  St. 
Elmo  appeared  at  the  topmast  with  a  lighted  candle,  and  sometimes  with  two, 
upon  which  the  people  shed  tears  of  joy,  receiving  great  consolation,  and  saluted 
Jiim  according  to  the  custom  of  mariners.  He  remained  visible  for  a  quarter  of  an 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


m 

On  the  evening  of  Saturday,  the  2d  of  November,  Columbus 
was  convinced,  from  the  color  of  the  sea,  the  nature  of  the 
waves,  and  the  variable  winds  and  frequent  showers,  that  they 
must  be  near  to  land;  he  gave  orders,  therefore,  to  take  in 
sail,  and  to  maintain  a  vigilant  watch  throughout  the  night, 
lie  had  judged  with  his  usual  sagacity.  In  the  morning  a 
lofty  island  was  descried  to  the  west,  at  the  sight  of  which 
there  were  shouts  of  joy  throughout  the  fleet.  Columbus 
gave  to  the  island  the  name  of  Dominica,  from  having  dis¬ 
covered  it  on  Sunday.  As  the  ships  moved  gently  onward, 
other  islands  rose  to  sight,  covered  with  forests,  while  flights 
of  parrots  and  other  tropical  birds  passed  from  one  to  the 
other. 

The  crews  were  now  assembled  on  the  decks  of  the  several 
ships,  to  return  thanks  to  God  for  their  prosperous  voyage, 
and  their  happy  discovery  of  land,  chanting  the  Salve  Regina 
and  other  anthems.  Such  was  the  solemn  manner  in  which 
Columbus  celebrated  all  his  discoveries,  and  which,  in  fact,  was 
generally  observed  by  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese  voyagers. 


CHAPTER  H. 

TRANSACTIONS  AT  THE  ISLAND  OF  GUADALOUPE. 

[1493.  J 

The  islands  among  which  Columbus  had  arrived  were  a  part 
of  that  beautiful  cluster  called  by  some  the  Antilles,  which 
sweep  almost  in  a  semicircle  from  the  eastern  end  of  Porto 
Rico  to  the  coast  of  Paria  on  the  southern  continent,  forming  a 
kind  of  barrier  between  the  main  ocean  and  the  Caribbean  Sea. 

During  the  first  day  that  he  entered  this  archipelago,  Colum¬ 
bus  saw  no  less  than  six  islands  of  different  magnitude.  They 
were  clothed  in  tropical  vegetation,  and  the  breezes  from  them 
were  sweetened  by  the  fragrance  of  their  forests. 

After  seeking  in  vain  for  good  anchorage  at  Dominica,  he 
stood  for  another  of  the  group,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of 
his  ship,  Marigalante.  Here  he  landed,  displayed  the  royal 


hour,  and  then  disappeared,  with  a  great  flash  of  lightning,  which  blinded  the  peo 
pie.”— Herrera,  decad,  ii.  lib.jv.  cap.  iO, 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


213 


banner,  and  took  possession  of  the  archipelago  in  the  name  of 
liis  sovereigns.  The  island  appeared  to  "be  uninhabited ;  a  rich 
and  dense  forest  overspread  it ;  some  of  the  trees  were  in  blos¬ 
som,  others  laden  with  unknown  fruits,  others  possessing  spicy 
odors — among  which  was  one  with  the  leaf  of  the  laurel  and 
the  fragrance  of  the  clove. 

Hence  they  made  sail  for  an  island  of  larger  size,  with  a  re¬ 
markable  mountain ;  one  peak,  which  proved  afterward  to  be 
the  crater  of  a  volcano,  rose  to  a  great  height,  with  streams  of 
water  gushing  from  it.  As  they  approached  within  three 
leagues  they  beheld  a  cataract  of  such  height  that,  to  use  the 
words  of  the  narrator,  it  seemed  to  be  falling  from  the  sky. 
As  it  broke  into  foam  in  its  descent,  many  at  first  believed  it 
to  be  merely  a  stratum  of  white  rock.*  To  this  island,  which 
was  called  by  the  Indians  Turuqueira,t  the  admiral  gave  the 
name  of  Guadaloupe,  having  promised  the  monks  of  our  Lady 
of  Guadaloupe  in  Estremadura  to  call  some  newly -discovered 
place  after  their  convent. 

Landing  here  on  the  4th,  they  visited  a  village  near  the 
shore,  the  inhabitants  of  which  fled,  some  even  leaving  their 
children  behind  in  their  terror  and  confusion.  These  the  Span¬ 
iards  soothed  with  caresses,  binding  hawks’  bells  and  other 
trinkets  round  their  arms.  This  village,  like  most  of  those  of 
the  island,  consisted  of  twenty  or  thirty  houses,  built  round 
a  public  place  or  square.  The  houses  were  constructed  of 
trunks  and  trees  interwoven  with  reeds  and  branches,  and 
thatched  with  palm-leaves.  They  were  square,  not  circular 
like  those  of  the  other  islands,  J  and  each  had  its  portico  or 
shelter  from  the  sun.  One  of  the  porticos  was  decorated  with 
images  of  serpents  tolerably  carved  in  wood.  For  furniture 
they  had  hammocks  of  cotton  net,  and  utensils  formed  of  cala¬ 
bashes  or  earthenware,  equal  to  the  best  of  those  of  Hispaniola. 
There  were  large  quantities  of  cotton ;  some  in  the  wool,  some 
in  yarn,  and  some  wrought  into  cloth  of  very  tolerable  texture ; 
and  many  bows  and  arrows,  the  latter  tipped  with  shap  bones. 
Provisions  seemed  to  abound.  There  were  many  domesticated 
geese  like  those  of  Europe,  and  parrots  as  large  as  household 
fowls,  with  blue,  green,  white,  and  scarlet  plumage,  being  the 
splendid  species  called  guacamayos.  Here  also  the  Spaniards 


*  Letter  of  Dr.  Chanca. 

t  Letter  of  Dr.  Chanca.  Peter  Martyr  calls  it  Carucueira  or  Queraquiera,  decad. 
1.  lib.  ii. 

t  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  02. 


214 


LIFE  OF  CHR1ST0PIIER  COLUMBUS. 


first  met  with  the  anana,  or  pineapple,  the  flavor  and  fra* 
grance  of  which  astonished  and  delighted  them.  In  one  of  the 
houses  they  were  surprised  to  find  a  pan  or  other  utensil  of 
iron,  not  having  ever  met  with  that  metal  in  the  New  World. 
Fernando  Colon  supposes  that  it  was  formed  of  a  certain  kind 
of  heavy  stone  found  among  those  islands,  which,  when  burnt, 
has  the  appearance  of  shining  iron;  or  it  might  have  been  some 
utensil  brought  by  the  Indians  from  Hispaniola.  Certain  it  is, 
that  no  native  iron  was  ever  found  among  the  people  of  these 
islands. 

In  another  house  was  the  stern-post  of  a  vessel.  How  had  it 
reached  these  shores,  which  appeared  never  to  have  been  visit¬ 
ed  by  the  ships  of  civilized  man?  Was  it  the  wreck  of  some 
vessel  from  the  more  enlightened  countries  of  Asia,  which  they 
supposed  to  lie  somewhere  in  this  direction?  Or  a  part  of  the 
caravel  which  Columbus  had  lost  at  the  island  of  Hispaniola 
during  his  first  voyage?  Or  a  fragment  of  some  European 
ship  which  had  drifted  across  the  Atlantic?  The  latter  was 
most  probably  the  case.  The  constant  current  which  sets  over 
from  the  coast  of  Africa,  produced  by  the  steady  prevalence  of 
the  trade-winds,  must  occasionally  bring  wrecks  from  the  Old 
World  to  the  New;  and  long  before  the  discovery  of  Columbus 
the  savages  of  the  islands  and  the  coasts  may  have  gazed  with 
wonder  at  fragments  of  European  barks  wliich  have  floated  to 
their  shores. 

What  struck  the  Spaniards  with  horror  was  the  sight  of  hu¬ 
man  bones,  vestiges,  as  they  supposed,  of  unnatural  repasts; 
and  skulls,  apparently  used  as  vases  and  other  household  uten¬ 
sils.  These  dismal  objects  convinced  them  that  they  were  now 
in  the  abodes  of  the  Cannibals,  or  Caribs,  whose  predatory  ex¬ 
peditions  and  ruthless  character  rendered  them  the  terror  of 
these  seas. 

The  boat  having  returned  on  board,  Columbus  proceeded  up¬ 
ward  of  two  leagues,  until  lie  anchored,  late  in  the  evening,  in 
a  convenient  port.  The  island  on  this  side  extended  for  the 
distance  of  five  and  twenty  leagues,  diversified  with  lofty 
mountains  and  broad  pTains.  Along  the  coast  were  small  vil¬ 
lages  and  hamlets,  the  inhabitants  of  which  fled  in  affright. 
On  the  following  day  the  boats  landed,  and  succeeded  in  taking 
and  bringing  off  a  bey  and  several  women.  The  information 
gathered  from  them  confirmed  Columbus  in  his  idea  that  this 
was  one  of  the  islands  of  the  Caribs.  He  learnt  that  the  inhab¬ 
itants  were  in  league  with  two  neighboring  islands,  but  mada 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


215 


war  upon  all  the  rest.  They  even  went  on  predatory  enter¬ 
prises,  in  canoes  made  from  the  hollowed  trunks  of  trees,  to 
the  distance  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  leagues.  Their  arms  were 
bows  and  arrows  pointed  with  the  bones  of  fishes  or  shells  of 
tortoises,  and  poisoned  with  the  juice  of  a  certain  herb.  They 
made  descents  upon  the  islands,  ravaged  the  villages,  carried 
off  the  youngest  and  handsomest  of  the  women,  whom  they  re- 
tained  as  servants  or  companions,  and.  made  prisoners  of  the 
men,  to  be  killed  and  eaten. 

After  hearing  such  accounts  of  the  natives  of  this  island,  Co¬ 
lumbus  was  extremely  uneasy  at  finding,  in  the  evening,  that 
Diego  Marque,  a  captain  of  one  of  the  caravels,  and  eight  men 
were  missing.  They  had  landed  early  in  the  morning  without 
leave,  and  straying  into  the  woods,  had  not  since  been  seen  or 
heard  of.  The  night  passed  away  without  their  return.  On 
the  following  day  parties  were  sent  in  various  directions  in 
quest  of  them,  each  with  a  trumpeter  to  sound  calls  and  signals. 
Guns  were  fired  from  the  ships,  and  arquebuses  on  shore,  but 
all  to  no  purpose,  and  the  parties  returned  in  the  evening, 
wearied  with  a  fruitless  search.  In  several  hamlets  they  had 
met  with  proofs  of  the  cannibal  propensities  of  the  natives. 
Human  limbs  were  suspended  to  the  beams  of  the  houses,  as  if 
curing  for  provisions ;  the  head  of  a  young  man  recently  killed 
was  yet  bleeding ;  some  parts  of  his  body  were  roasting  before 
the  fire,  others  boiling  with  the  flesh  of  geese  and  parrots.* 

Several  of  the  natives,  in  the  course  of  the  day,  had  been  seen 
on  the  shore,  gazing  with  wonder  at  the  ships,  but  when  the 
boats  approached,  they  fled  to  the  woods  and  mountains. 
Several  women  came  off  to  the  Spaniards  for  refuge,  being  cap¬ 
tives  from  other  islands.  Columbus  ordered  that  they  should 
be  decorated  with  hawks’  bells  and  strings  of  beads  and  bugles, 
and  sent  on  shore,  in  hopes  of  enticing  off  some  of  the  men. 
They  soon  returned  to  the  boats  stripped  of  their  ornaments, 
and  imploring  to  be  taken  on  board  the  ships.  The  admiral 
learnt  from  them  that  most  of  the  men  of  the  island  were  ab¬ 
sent,  the  king  having  sailed  some  time  before  with  ten  canoes 
and  three  hundred  warriors,  on  a  cruise  in  quest  of  prisoners 
and  booty.  When  the  men  went  forth  on  these  expeditions, 
the  women  remained  to  defend  their  shores  from  invasion. 
They  were  expert  archers,  partaking  of  the  warrior  spirit  of 


*  P.  Martyr,  Letter  147  to  Pomponio  Leeto.  Idem,  decad.  i.  lib.  ii. 


216  LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 

their  husbands,  and  almost  equalling  them  in  force  and  intre¬ 
pidity.* 

The  continued  absence  of  the  wanderers  perplexed  Columbus 
extremely.  He  was  impatient  to  arrive  at  Hispaniola,  but  un¬ 
willing  to  sail  while  there  was  a  possibility  of  their  being  alive 
and  being  recovered.  In  this  emergency  Alonso  de  Ojeda,  the 
same  young  cavalier  whose  exploit  on  the  tower  of  the  cathe¬ 
dral  at  Seville  has  been  mentioned,  volunteered  to  scour  the 
island  with  forty  men  in  quest  of  them.  He  departed  accord¬ 
ingly,  and  during  his  absence  the  ships  took  in  wood  and 
water,  and  part  of  the  crews  were  permitted  to  land,  wash 
their  clothes,  and  recreate  themselves. 

Ojeda  and  his  followers  pushed  far  into  the  interior,  firing 
off  arquebuses  and  sounding  trumpets  in  the  valleys  and  from 
the  summits  of  cliffs  and  precipices,  but  were  only  answered  by 
their  own  echoes.  The  tropical  luxuriance  and  density  of  the 
forests  rendered  them  almost  impenetrable ;  and  it  was  neces¬ 
sary  to  wade  a  great  many  rivers,  or  probably  the  windings 
and  doublings  of  the  same  stream.  The  island  appeared  to  be 
naturally  fertile  in  the  extreme.  The  forests  abounded  with 
aromatic  trees  and  shrubs,  among  which  Ojeda  fancied  he  per- 
coived  the  odor  of  precious  gums  and  spices.  There  was  honey 
in  hollow  trees  and  in  the  clefts  of  rocks ;  abundance  of  fruit 
also ;  for,  according  to  Peter  Martyr,  the  Caribs,  in  their  preda¬ 
tory  cruisings,  were  accustomed  to  bring  home  the  seeds  and 
roots  of  all  kinds  of  plants  from  the  distant  islands  and  coun¬ 
tries  which  they  overran. 

Ojeda  returned  without  any  tidings  of  the  stragglers.  Seve¬ 
ral  days  had  now  elapsed  since  their  disappearance.  They  were 
given  up  for  lost,  and  the  fleet  was  about  sailing  when,  to  the 
universal  joy,  a  signal  was  made  by  them  from  the  shore. 
When  they  came  on  board  their  haggard  and  exhausted  looks 
bespoke  what  they  had  suffered.  For  several  days  they  had 
been  perplexed  in  trackless  forests,  so  dense  as  almost  to  ex¬ 
clude  the  light  of  day.  They  had  clambered  rocks,  waded 
rivers,  and  struggled  through  briers  and  thickets.  Some,  who 
were  experienced  seamen,  climbed  the  trees  to  get  a  sight  of  the 
stars,  by  which  to  govern  their  course;  but  the  spreading 
branches  and  thick  foliage  shut  out  all  view  of  the  heavens. 
They  were  harassed  with  the  fear,  that  the  admiral,  thinking 


*  Peter  Martyr,  decad.  iii.  lib.  ix. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


217 


them  dead,  might  set  sail  and  leave  them  in  this  wilderness, 
cut  off  forever  from  their  homes  and  the  abodes  of  civilized 
man.  At  length,  when  ahnost  reduced  to  despair,  they  had 
arrived  at  the  sea-shore,  and  following  it  for  some  time,  be¬ 
held,  to  their  great  joy,  the  fleet  riding  quietly  at  anchor. 
They  brought  with  them  several  Indian  women  and  boys ;  but 
in  all  their  wanderings  they  had  not  met  with  any  man ;  the 
greater  part  of  the  warriors,  as  has  been  said,  being  fortunately 
absent  on  an  expedition. 

Notwithstanding  the  hardships  they  had  endured,  and  his 
joy  at  their  return,  Columbus  put  the  captain  under  arrest,  and 
stopped  part  of  the  rations  of  the  men,  for  having  strayed  away 
without  permission,  for  in  a  service  of  such  a  critical  nature,  it 
was  necessary  to  punish  every  breach  of  discipline.* 


CHAPTER  III. 

CRUISE  AMONG  THE  CARIBBEE  ISLANDS. 

[1493.] 

Weighing  anchor  on  the  10th  of  November,  Columbus 
steered  toward  the  north-west,  along  this  beautiful  archipelago; 
giving  names  to  the  islands  as  they  rose  to  view;  such  as 
Montserrat,  Santa  Maria  la  Redonda,  Santa  Maria  la  Antigua, 
and  San  Martin.  Various  other  islands,  lofty  and  well-wooded, 
appeared  to  the  north,  south-west,  and  south-east ;  but  he  for- 
bore  to  visit  them.  The  weather  proving  boisterous,  he  an¬ 
chored  on  the  14th  at  an  island  called  Ayay  by  the  Indians,  but 
to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  Santa  Cruz.  A  boat  well  manned 
was  sent  on  shore  to  get  water  and  procure  information. 
They  found  a  village  deserted  by  the  men,  but  secured  a  few 
women  and  boys,  most  of  them  captives  from  other  islands. 
They  soon  had  an  instance  of  Carib  courage  and  ferocity. 
While  at  the  village  they  beheld  a  canoe  from  a  distant  part  of 
the  island  come  round  a  point  of  land  and  arrive  in  view  of  the 
ships.  The  Indians  in  the  canoe,  two  of  whom  were  females, 
remained  gazing  in  mute  amazement  at  the  ships,  and  were  so 
entranced  that  the  boat  stole  close  upon  them  before  they  per- 


*  Dr.  Chanca’s  Letter,  Hist,  del  Almlrante,  cap.  46. 


218 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


ceived  it.  Seizing  their  paddles  they  attempted  to  escape,  but 
the  boat  being  between  them  and  the  land,  cut  off  their  re¬ 
treat.  They  now  caught  up  their  bows  and  arrows  and  plied 
them  with  amazing  vigor  and  rapidity.  The  Spaniards  cov¬ 
ered  themselves  with  their  bucklers,  but  two  of  them  were 
quickly  wounded.  The  women  fought  as  fiercely  as  the  men, 
and  one  of  them  sent  an  arrow  with  such  force  that  it  passed 
through  and  through  a  buckler. 

The  Spaniards  now  ran  their  boat  against  the  canoe  and  over* 
turned  it ;  some  of  the  savages  got  upon  sunken  rocks,  others 
discharged  their  arrows  while  swimming,  as  dexterously  as 
though  they  had  been  upon  firm  land.  It  was  with  the  ut¬ 
most  difficulty  they  could  be  overcome  and  taken.  One  of 
them,  who  had  been  transfixed  with  a  lance,  died  soon  after 
being  brought  aboard  the  ships.  One  of  the  women,  from  the 
obedience  and  deference  paid  to  her,  appeared  to  be  their 
queen.  She  was  accompanied  by  her  son,  a  young  man 
strongly  made,  with  a  frowning  brow  and  lion’s  face.  He  had 
been  wounded  in  the  conflict.  The  hair  of  these  savages  was 
long  and  coarse.  Their  eyes  were  encircled  with  paint,  so  as 
to  give  them  a  hideous  expression ;  and  bands  of  cotton  were 
bound  firmly  above  and  below  the  muscular  parts  of  the  arms 
and  legs,  so  as  to  cause  them  to  swell  to  a  disproportioned  size  ; 
a  custom  prevalent  among  various  tribes  of  the  New  World. 
Though  captives  in  chains,  and  in  the  power  of  their  enemies, 
they  still  retained  a  frowning  brow  and  an  air  of  defiance. 
Peter  Martyr,  who  often  went  to  see  them  in  Spain,  declares, 
from  his  own  experience,  and  that  of  others  who  accompanied 
him,  that  it  was  impossible  to  look  at  them  without  a  sensation 
of  horror,  so  menacing  and  terrible  was  their  aspect.  The  sen¬ 
sation  was  doubtless  caused  in  a  great  measure  by  the  idea  of 
their  being  cannibals.  In  this  skirmish,  according  to  the  same 
writer,  the  Indians  used  poisoned  arrows ;  and  one  of  the  Span¬ 
iards  died  within  a  few  days,  of  a  wound  received  from  one  of 
the  females.* 

Pursuing  his  voyage,  Columbus  soon  came  in  sight  of  a  great 
cluster  of  islands,  some  verdant  and  covered  with  forests,  but 
the  greater  part  naked  and  sterile,  rising  into  craggy  moun¬ 
tains  ;  with  rocks  of  a  bright  azure  color,  and  some  of  a  glister¬ 
ing  white.  These,  with  his  usual  vivacity  of  imagination,  he 


1 P.  Martyr,  decad.  i.  lib.  ii.  Hist,  del  Almiranto,  cap.  47.  Las  Casas.  Hist.  Iud* 
tap.  85,  ms.  Letter  of  Dr.  Chanca. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


219 


supposed  to  contain  mines  of  rich  metals  and  precious  stones. 
The  islands  lying  close  together,  with  the  sea  beating  roughly 
in  the  narrow  channels  which  divided  them,  rendered  it  danger¬ 
ous  to  enter  among  them  with  the  large  ships.  Columbus  sent 
in  a  small  caravel  with  latine  sails,  to  reconnoitre,  which  re¬ 
turned  with  the  report  that  there  were  upward  of  fifty  islands, 
apparently  inhabited.  To  the  largest  of  this  group  he  gave  the 
name  of  Santa  Ursula,  and  called  the  others  the  Eleven  Thousand. 
Virgins.* 

Continuing  his  course,  he  arrived  one  evening  in  sight  of  a 
great  island  covered  with  beautiful  forests,  and  indented  with 
fine  havens.  It  was  called  by  the  natives  Boriquem,  but  he 
gave  it  the  name  of  San  Juan  Bautista;  it  is  the  same  since 
known  by  the  name  of  Porto  Rico.  This  was  the  native  island 
of  most  of  the  captives  who  had  fled  to  the  ships  for  refuge  from 
the  Caribs.  According  to  their  accounts  it  was  fertile  and  popu¬ 
lous,  and  under  the  dominion  of  a  single  cacique.  Its  inhabi¬ 
tants  were  not  given  to  rove,  and  possessed  but  few  canoes. 
They  were  subject  to  frequent  invasions  from  the  Caribs,  who 
were  their  implacable  enemies.  They  had  become  warriors, 
therefore,  in  their  own  defence,  using  the  bow  and  arrow  and 
the  war-club ;  and  in  their  contests  with  their  cannibal  foes  they 
retorted  upon  them  their  own  atrocities,  devouring  their  pri¬ 
soners  in  revenge. 

After  running  for  a  whole  day  along  the  beautiful  coast  of 
this  island,  they  anchored  in  a  bay  at  the  west  end,  abounding 
in  fish.  On  landing,  they  found  an  Indian  village,  constructed 
as  usual  round  a  common  square,  like  a  market-place,  with  one 
large  and  well-built  house.  A  spacious  road  led  thence  to  the 
seaside,  having  fences  on  each  side,  of  interwoven  reeds,  inclos¬ 
ing  fruitful  gardens.  At  the  end  of  the  road  was  a  kind  of  ter¬ 
race,  or  look-out,  constructed  of  reeds  and  overhanging  the 
water.  The  whole  place  had  an  air  of  neatness  and  ingenuity, 
superior  to  the  ordinary  residences  of  the  natives,  and  appeared 
to  be  the  abode  of  some  important  chieftain.  All,  however,  was 
silent  and  deserted.  Not  a  human  being  was  to  be  seen  during 
the  time  they  remained  at  the  place.  The  natives  had  concealed 
themselves  at  the  sight  of  the  squadron.  After  remaining  here 
two  days,  Columbus  made  sail,  and  stood  for  the  island  of  His¬ 
paniola.  Thus  ended  his  cruise  among  the  Caribbee  Islands,  the 
account  of  whose  fierce  and  savage  people  was  received  with 


*  P.  Martyr,  decad.  i.  lib.  ii.  Letter  of  Dr.  Chanca. 


220 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


eager  curiosity  by  the  learned  of  Europe,  and  considered  as 
settling  one  dark  and  doubtful  question  to  the  disadvantage  of 
human  nature.  Peter  Martyr,  in  his  letter  to  Pomponius  Lsetus, 
announces  the  fact  with  fearful  solemnity.  ‘  ‘  The  stories  of  the 
Lestrigonians  and  of  Polyphemus,  who  fed  on  human  flesh,  are 
no  longer  doubtful !  Attend,  but  beware,  lest  thy  hair  bristle 
with  horror !” 

That  many  of  the  pictures  given  us  of  this  extraordinary  race 
of  people  have  been  colored  by  the  fears  of  the  Indians  and  the 
prejudices  of  the  Spaniards,  is  highly  probable.  They  were 
constantly  the  terror  of  the  former,  and  the  brave  and  obstinate 
opponents  of  the  latter.  The  evidences  adduced  of  their  canni¬ 
bal  propensities  must  be  received  with  large  allowances  for  the 
careless  and  inaccurate  observations  of  seafaring  men,  and  the 
preconceived  belief  of  the  fact,  which  existed  in  the  minds  of 
the  Spaniards.  It  was  a  custom  among  the  natives  of  many  of 
the  islands,  and  of  other  parts  of  the  New  World,  to  preserve 
the  remains  of  their  deceased  relatives  and  friends ;  sometimes 
the  entire  body ;  sometimes  only  the  head,  or  some  of  the  limbs, 
dried  at  the  fire ;  sometimes  the  mere  bones.  These,  when  found 
in  the  dwellings  of  the  natives  of  Hispaniola,  against  whom  no 
prejudice  of  the  kind  existed,  were  correctly  regarded  as  relics 
of  the  deceased,  preserved  through  affection  or  reverence ;  but 
any  remains  of  the  kind  found  among  the  Caribs  were  looked 
upon  with  horror  as  proofs  of  cannibalism. 

The  warlike  and  unyielding  character  of  these  people,  so  dif¬ 
ferent  from  that  of  the  pusillanimous  nations  around  them,  and 
the  wide  scope  of  their  enterprises  and  wanderings,  like  those 
of  the  nomad  tribes  of  the  Old  World,  entitle  them  to  distin¬ 
guished  attention.  They  were  trained  to  war  from  their  infancy. 
As  soon  as  they  could  walk,  their  intrepid  mothers  put  in  their 
hands  the  bow  and  arrow,  and  prepared  them  to  take  an  early 
part  in  the  hardy  enterprises  of  their  fathers.  Their  distant 
roamings  by  sea  made  them  observant  and  intelligent.  The 
natives  of  the  other  islands  only  knew  how  to  divide  time  by 
day  and  night,  by  the  sun  and  moon ;  whereas  these  had  ac¬ 
quired  some  knowledge  of  the  stars,  by  which  to  calculate  the 
times  and  seasons.* 

The  traditional  accounts  of  their  origin,  though  of  course  ex¬ 
tremely  vague,  are  yet  capable  of  being  verified  to  a  great  degree 
by  geographical  facts,  and  open  one  of  the  rich  veins  of  curious 


*  Hist,  del  Almirarrte,  cap.  63. 


LIFE  OF  CHRIS T0PI1ER  COLUMBUS. 


221 


inquiry  and  speculation  which  abound  in  the  New  World. 
They  are  said  to  have  migrated  from  the  remote  valleys  embo¬ 
somed  in  the  Apalachian  mountains.  The  earliest  accounts  we 
have  of  them  represent  them  with  weapons  in  their  hands,  con¬ 
tinually  engaged  in  wars,  winning  their  way  and  shifting  their 
abode,  until  in  the  course  of  time  they  found  themselves  at  the 
extremity  of  Florida.  Here,  abandoning  the  northern  conti¬ 
nent,  they  passed  over  to  the  Lucayos,  and  thence  gradually, 
in  the  process  of  years,  from  island  to  island  of  that  vast  and 
verdant  chain,  which  links,  as  it  were,  the  end  of  Florida  to  the 
coast  of  Paria,  on  the  southern  continent.  The  archipelago 
extending  from  Porto  Rico  to  Tobago  was  their  stronghold,  and 
the  island  of  Guadaloupe  in  a  manner  their  citadel.  Hence  they 
made  their  expeditions,  and  spread  the  terror  of  their  name 
through  all  the  surrounding  countries.  Swarms  of  them  landed 
upon  the  southern  continent,  and  overran  some  parts  of  terra 
firma.  Traces  of  them  have  been  discovered  far  in  the  interior 
of  that  vast  country  through  which  flows  the  Oroonoko.  The 
Dutch  found  colonies  of  them  on  the  banks  of  the  Ikouteka, 
which  empties  into  the  Surinam ;  along  the  Esquibi,  the  Maroni, 
and  other  rivers  of  Guayana;  and  in  the  country  watered  by 
the  windings  of  the  Cayenne ;  and  it  would  appear  that  they 
extended  their  wanderings  to  the  shores  of  the  southern  ocean, 
where,  among  the  aboriginals  of  Brazil,  were  some  who  called 
themselves  Caribs,  distinguished  from  the  surrounding  Indians 
by  their  superior  hardihood,  subtlety,  and  enterprise.* 

To  trace  the  footsteps  of  this  roving  tribe  throughout  its  wide 
migrations  from  the  Apalachian  mountains  of  the  northern 
continent,  along  the  clusters  of  islands  which  stud  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico  and  the  Caribbean  Sea  to  the  shores  of  Paria,  and  so 
across  the  vast  regions  of  Guayana  and  Amazonia  to  the  remote 
coast  of  Brazil,  would  be  one  of  the  most  curious  researches  in 
aboriginal  history,  and  throw  much  light  upon  the  mysterious 
question  of  the  population  of  the  New  World. 


♦.Rochefort,  Hist.  Nat.  des  Isles  Antilles;  Rotterdam,  16G&- 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS . 


222 


CHAPTER  IV. 

ARRIVAL  AT  THE  HARBOR  OF  LA  NA YID AD  —  DISASTER  OF  THE 

FORTRESS. 

[1493.] 

On  the  226.  of  November  the  fleet  arrived  off  what  was  soon 
ascertained  to  be  the  eastern  extremity  of  Hayti,  or,  as  the 
admiral  had  named  it,  Hispaniola.  The  greatest  excitement 
prevailed  throughout  the  armada,  at  the  thoughts  of  soon  ar¬ 
riving,  at  the  end  of  their  voyage.  Those  who  had  been  here  in 
the  preceding  voyage  remembered  the  pleasant  days  they  had 
passed  among  the  groves  of  Iiayti ;  and  the  rest  looked  for¬ 
ward  with  eagerness  to  scenes  painted  to  them  with  the  capti¬ 
vating  illusions  of  the  golden  age. 

As  the  fleet  swept  with  easy  sail  along  the  green  shore,  a 
boat  was  sent  to  land  to  bury  a  Biscayan  sailor,  who  had  died 
of  the  wound  of  an  arrow  received  in  the  late  skirmish.  Two 
light  caravels  hovered  near  the  shore  to  guard  the  boat’s  crew, 
while  the  funeral  ceremony  was  performed  on  the  beach,  under 
the  trees.  Several  natives  cams  off  to  the  ship,  with  a  mes¬ 
sage  to  the  admiral  from  the  cacique  of  the  neighborhood,  in¬ 
viting  him  to  land,  and  promising  great  quantities  of  gold; 
anxious,  however,  to  arrive  at  La  Navidad,  Columbus  dis¬ 
missed  them  with  presents  and  continued  his  course.  Arriv¬ 
ing  at  the  gulf  of  Las  Flechas,  or,  as  it  is  now  called,  the  gulf 
of  Semana,  the  place  where,  in  his  preceding  voyage,  a  skir¬ 
mish  had  occurred  with  the  natives,  he  set  on  shore  one  of  the 
young  Indians  of  the  place,  who  had  accompanied  him  to 
Spain,  and  had  been  converted  to  Christianity.  He  dismissed 
him  finely  apparelled  and  loaded  with  trinkets,  anticipating 
favorable  effects  from  his  accounts  to  his  countrymen  of  the 
wonders  he  had  seen,  and  the  kind  treatment  he  had  expe¬ 
rienced.  The  young  Indian  made  many  fair  promises,  but 
either  forgot  them  all,  on  regaining  his  liberty  and  his  native 
mountains,  or  fell  a  victim  to  envy  caused  by  his  wealth  and 
finery.  Nothing  was  seen  or  heard  of  him  more.*  Only  one 
Indian  of  those  who  had  been  to  Spain  now  remained  m  tha 


*  Herrera,  Hist.  Ind.,  decad.  i.  lib.  ii.  cap.  9. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


223 


fleet ;  a  young  Lucayan,  native  of  the  island  of  Guanahani, 
who  had  been  baptized  at  Barcelona,  and  had  been  named  after 
the  admiral’s  brother,  Diego  Colon.  He  continued  always 
faithful  and  devoted  to  the  Spaniards. 

On  the  25th  Columbus  anchored  in  the  harbor  of  Monte 
Christi;  anxious  to  fix  upon  a  place  for  a  settlement  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  stream  to  which,  in  his  first  voyage,  he 
had  given  the  name  of  the  Rio  del  Oro,  or  the  Golden  River. 
As  several  of  the  mariners  were  ranging  the  coast,  they  found, 
on  the  green  and  moist  banks  of  a  rivulet,  the  bodies  of  a  man 
and  boy ;  the  former  with  a  cord  of  Spanish  grass  about  his 
neck,  and  his  arms  extended  and  tied  by  the  wrists  to  a  stake 
in  the  form  of  a  cross.  The  bodies  were  in  such  a  state  of  de¬ 
cay  that  it  was  impossible  to  ascertain  whether  they  were  In¬ 
dians  or  Europeans.  Sinister  doubts,  however,  were  enter¬ 
tained,  which  were  confirmed  on  the  following  day ;  for  on  re¬ 
visiting  the  shore,  they  found,  at  some  distance  from  the  former, 
two  other  bodies,  one  of  which,  having  a  beard,  was  evidently 
the  corpse  of  a  white  man. 

The  pleasant  anticipations  of  Columbus  on  his  approach  to 
La  Navidad  were  now  overcast  with  gloomy  forebodings. 
The  experience  recently  had  of  the  ferocity  of  some  of  the  in¬ 
habitants  of  these  islands,  made  him  doubtful  of  the  amity 
of  others,  and  he  began  to  fear  that  some  misfortune  might 
have  befallen  Arana  and  his  garrison. 

The  frank  and  fearless  manner,  however,  in  which  a  number 
of  the  natives  came  off  to  the  ships,  and  their  unembarrassed 
demeanor,  in  some  measure  allayed  his  suspicions ;  for  it  did 
not  appear  probable  that  they  would  venture  thus  confidently 
among  the  white  men,  with  the  consciousness  of  having  recent¬ 
ly  shed  the  blood  of  their  companions. 

On  the  evening  of  the  27th,  he  arrived  opposite  the  harbor  of 
La  Navidad,  and  cast  anchor  about  a  league  from  the  land,  not 
daring  to  enter  in  the  dark  on  account  of  the  dangerous  reefs. 
It  was  too  late  to  distinguish  objects.  Impatient  to  satisfy  his 
doubts,  therefore,  he  ordered  two  cannon  to  be  fired.  The  re¬ 
port  echoed  along  the  shore,  but  there  was  no  reply  from  the 
fort.  Every  eye  was  now  directed  to  catch  the  gleam  of  some 
signal  light ;  every  ear  listened  to  hear  some  friendly  shout ; 
but  there  was  neither  light  nor  shout,  nor  any  other  sign  of 
life;  all  was  darkness  and  deathlike  silence.* 


*  Letter  of  Dr.  Chancfc,  Ka.*«xrete»  Colec.  de  Viage,  tom.  i. 

I 


224 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS . 


Several  hours  were  passed  in  dismal  suspense,  and  every  one 
longed  for  the  morning  light,  to  put  an  end  to  his  uncertainty. 
About  midnight  a  canoe  approached  the  fleet ;  when  within  a 
certain  distance,  it  paused,  and  the  Indians  who  were  in  it, 
hailing  one  of  the  vessels,  asked  for  the  admiral.  When  direct¬ 
ed  to  his  ship  they  drew  near,  but  would  not  venture  on  board 
until  they  saw  Columbus.  He  showed  himself  at  the  side  of 
his  vessel,  and  a  light  being  held  up,  his  countenance  and  com¬ 
manding  person  were  not  to  be  mistaken.  They  now  entered 
the  ship  without  hesitation.  One  of  them  was  a  cousin  of  the 
cacique  Guacanagari,  and  brought  a  present  from  him  of  two 
masks  ornamented  with  gold.  Columbus  inquired  about  the 
Spaniards  who  had  remained  on  the  island.  The  information 
which  the  native  gave  was  somewhat  confused,  or  perhaps  was 
imperfectly  understood,  as  the  only  Indian  interpreter  on  board 
was  the  young  Lucayan,  Diego  Colon,  whose  native  language 
was  different  from  that  of  Hayti.  He  told  Columbus  that  sev¬ 
eral  of  the  Spaniards  had  died  of  sickness ;  others  had  fallen  in 
a  quarrel  among  themselves,  and  others  had  removed  to  a  dif¬ 
ferent  part  of  the  island,  where  they  had  taken  to  themselves 
Indian  wives.  That  Guacanagari  had  been  assailed  by  Caona- 
bo,  the  fierce  cacique  of  the  golden  mountains  of  Cibao,  who 
had  wounded  him  in  battle,  and  burnt  his  village ;  and  that  he 
remained  ill  of  his  wound  in  a  neighboring  hamlet,  or  he  would 
have  hastened  in  person  to  welcome  the  admiral.* 

Melancholy  as  were  these  tidings,  they  relieved  Columbus 
from  a  dark  and  dismal  surmise.  Whatever  disasters  had 
overwhelmed  his  garrison,  it  had  not  fallen  a  sacrifice  to  the 
perfidy  of  the  natives ;  his  good  opinion  of  the  gentleness  and 
kindness  of  these  people  had  not  been  misplaced ;  nor  had  their 
cacique  forfeited  the  admiration  inspired  by  his  benevolent 
hospitality.  Thus  the  most  corroding  care  was  dismissed  from 
his  mind ;  for,  to  a  generous  spirit,  there  is  nothing  so  dis¬ 
heartening  as  to  discover  treachery  where  it  has  reposed  con¬ 
fidence  and  friendship.  It  would  seem  also  that  some  of  the 
garrison  were  yet  alive,  though  scattered  about  the  island; 
they  would  doubtless  soon  hear  of  his  arrival,  and  would  hasten 
to  rejoin  him,  well  qualified  to  give  information  of  the  interior. 

Satisfied  of  the  friendly  disposition  of  the  natives,  the  cheer¬ 
fulness  of  the  crews  was  in  a  great  measure  restored.  The 


*  Dr.  Chanca’s  Letter.  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  48.  Herrera,  Hist.  Ind.,  decad. 
» lib.  i.  cap.  9, 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  CO  LUMP  Its. 


223 


Indians  who  had  come  on  board  were  well  entertained,  and 
departed  in  the  night  gratified  with  various  presents,  promising 
to  return  in  the  morning  with  the  cacique  Guacanagari.  The 
mariners  now  awaited  the  dawn  of  day  with  reassured  spirits, 
expecting  that  the  cordial  intercourse  and  pleasant  scenes  of 
the  first  voyage  would  be  renewed. 

The  morning  dawned  and  passed  away,  and  the  day  advanced 
and  began  to  decline,  without  the  promised  visit  from  the 
cacique.  Some  apprehensions  were  now  entertained  that  the 
Indians  who  had  visited  them  the  preceding  night  might  be 
drowned,  as  they  had  partaken  freely  of  wine,  and  their  small 
canoe  was  easy  to  be  overset.  There  was  a  silence  and  an  air 
of  desertion  about  the  whole  neighborhood  extremely  suspicious. 
On  their  preceding  visit  the  harbor  had  been  a  scene  of  contin¬ 
ual  animation ;  canoes  gliding  over  the  clear  waters,  Indians  in 
groups  on  the  shores,  or  under  the  trees,  or  swimming  off  to 
the  caravel.  Now,  not  a  canoe  was  to  be  seen,  not  an  Indian 
hailed  them  from  the  land ;  nor  was  there  any  smoke  rising 
from  among  the  groves  to  give  a  sign  of  habitation. 

After  waiting  for  a  long  time  in  vain,  Columbus  sent  a  boat 
to  the  shore  to  reconnoitre.  On  landing,  the  crew  hastened 
and  sought  the  fortress.  It  was  a  ruin ;  the  palisadoes  were 
beaten  down,  and  the  whole  presented  the  appearance  of 
having  been  sacked,  burnt,  and  destroyed.  Here  and  there 
were  broken  chests,  spoiled  provisions,  and  the  ragged  remains 
of  European  garments.  Not  an  Indian  approached  them. 
They  caught  sight  of  two  or  three  lurking  at  a  distance  among 
the  trees,  and  apparently  watching  them ;  but  they  vanished 
into  the  woods  on  finding  themselves  observed.  Meeting  no 
one  to  explain  the  melancholy  scene  before  them,  they  returned 
with  dejected  hearts  to  the  ships,  and  related  to  the  admiral 
what  they  had  seen. 

Columbus  was  greatly  troubled  in  mind  at  this  intelligence, 
and  the  fleet  having  now  anchored  in  the  harbor,  he  went  him¬ 
self  to  shore  on  the  following  morning.  Repairing  to  the  ruins 
of  the  fortress,  he  found  everything  as  had  been  described,  and 
searched  in  vain  for  the  remains  of  dead  bodies.  No  traces  of 
the  garrison  were  to  be  seen,  but  broken  utensils,  and  torn 
vestments,  scattered  here  and  there  among  the  grass.  There 
were  many  surmises  and  conjectures.  If  the  fortress  had  been 
Sacked,  some  of  the  garrison  might  yet  survive,  and  might 
either  have  fled  from  the  neighborhood,  or  been  carried  into 
captivity.  Cannon  and  arquebuses  were  discharged,  in  hopes, 


226 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


if  any  of  the  survivors  were  hid  among  rocks  and  thickets, 
they  might  hear  them  and  come  forth ;  but  no  one  made  his 
appearance.  A  mournful  and  lifeless  silence  reigned  over  the 
place.  The  suspicion  of  treachery  on  the  part  of  Guacanagari 
was  again  revived,  but  Columbus  was  unwilling  to  indulge  it. 
On  looking  further  the  village  of  that  cacique  was  found  a 
mere  heap  of  burnt  ruins,  which  showed  that  he  had  been 
involved  in  the  disaster  of  the  garrison. 

Columbus  had  left  orders  with  Arana  and  the  other  officers 
to  bury  all  the  treasure  they  might  procure,  or,  in  case  of  sud¬ 
den  danger,  to  throw  it  into  the  well  of  the  fortress.  Tie 
ordered  excavations  to  be  made,  therefore,  among  the  ruins, 
and  the  well  to  be  cleared  out.  While  this  search  was  making, 
he  proceeded  with  the  boats  to  explore  the  neighborhood,  partly 
in  hopes  of  gaining  intelligence  of  any  scattered  survivors  of 
the  garrison,  and  partly  to  look  out  for  a  better  situation  for  a 
fortress.  After  proceeding  about  a  league  he  came  to  a  hamlet, 
the  inhabitants  of  which  had  fled,  taking  whatever  they  could 
with  them  and  hiding  the  rest  in  the  grass.  In  the  houses  were 
European  articles,  which  evidently  had  not  been  procured  by 
barter,  such  as  stockings,  pieces  of  cloth,  an  anchor  of  the 
caravel  which  had  been  wrecked,  and  a  beautiful  Moorish  robe, 
folded  in  the  form  in  which  it  had  been  brought  from  Spain.* 

Having  passed  some  time  in  contemplating  these  scattered 
documents  of  a  disastrous  story,  Columbus  returned  to  the 
ruins  of  the  fortress.  The  excavations  and  search  in  the  well 
had  proved  fruitless;  no  treasure  was  to  be  found.  Not  far 
from  the  fort,  however,  they  had  discovered  the  bodies  of 
eleven  men,  buried  in  different  places,  and  which  were  known 
by  their  clothing  to  be  Europeans.  They  had  evidently  been 
for  some  time  in  the  ground,  the  grass  having  grown  upon  their 
graves. 

In  the  course  of  the  day  a  number  of  the  Indians  made  their 
appearance,  hovering  timidly  at  a  distance.  Their  apprehen¬ 
sions  were  gradually  dispelled  until  they  became  perfectly  com- 
Jnunicative.  Some  of  them  could  speak  a  few  words  of  Spanish, 
and  knew  the  names  of  all  the  men  who  had  remained  with 
Arana.  By  this  means,  and  by  the  aid  of  the  interpreter,  the 
story  of  the  garrison  was  in  some  measure  ascertained. 

It  is  curious  to  note  this  first  footprint  of  civilization  in  the 


•Letter  of  Dr.  Chanca.  Cura  de  los  Palacios,  cap.  120. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


227 


New  World.  Those  whom  Columbus  had  left  behind,  says 
Oviedo,  with  the  exception  of  the  commander,  Don  Diego 
Arana,  and  one  or  two  others,  were  but  little  calculated  to 
follow  the  precepts  of  so  prudent  a  person,  or  to  discharge  the 
critical  duties  enjoined  upon  them.  They  were  principally 
men  of  the  lowest  order,  or  mariners  who  knew  not  how  to 
conduct  themselves  with  restraint  or  sobriety  on  shore.  *  No 
sooner  had  the  admiral  departed,  than  all  his  counsels  and 
commands  died  away  from  their  minds.  Though  a  mere  hand¬ 
ful  of  men,  surrounded  by  savage  tribes  and  dependent  upon 
their  own  prudence  and  good  conduct,  and  upon  the  good-will 
of  the  natives,  for  very  existence,  yet  they  soon  began  to 
indulge  in  the  most  wanton  abuses.  Some  were  prompted  by 
rapacious  avarice,  and  sought  to  possess  themselves,  by  all 
kinds  of  wrongful  means,  of  the  golden  ornaments  and  other 
valuable  property  of  the  natives.  Others  were  grossly  sensual, 
and  not  content  with  two  or  three  wives  allowed  to  each  by 
Guacanagari,  seduced  the  wives  and  daughters  of  the  Indians. 

Fierce  brawls  ensued  among  them  about  their  ill-gotten  spoils 
and  the  favors  of  the  Indian  women ;  and  the  natives  beheld 
with  astonishment  the  beings  whom  they  had  worshipped,  as 
descended  from  the  skies,  abandoned  to  the  grossest  of  earthly 
passions,  and  raging  against  each  other  with  worse  than  brutal 
ferocity. 

Still  these  dissensions  might  not  have  been  very  dangerous 
had  they  observed  one  of  the  injunctions  of  Columbus,  and 
kept  together  in  the  fortress,  maintaining  military  vigilance; 
but  all  precaution  of  the  kind  was  soon  forgotten.  In  vain  did 
Don  Diego  de  Arana  interpose  his  authority ;  in  vain  did  every 
inducement  present  itself  which  could  bind  man  and  man 
together  in  a  foreign  land.  All  order,  all  subordination,  all 
unanimity  was  at  an  end.  Many  abandoned  the  fortress,  and 
lived  carelessly  and  at  random  about  the  neighborhood ;  every 
one  was  for  himself,  or  associated  with  some  little  knot  of  con¬ 
federates  to  injure  and  despoil  the  rest.  Thus  factions  broke 
out  among  them,  until  ambition  arose  to  complete  the  destruc¬ 
tion  of  their  mimic  empire.  Pedro  Gutierrez  and  Rodrigo  de 
Escobedo,  whom  Columbus  had  left  as  lieutenants  to  the  com¬ 
mander,  to  succeed  to  him  in  case  of  accident,  took  advantage 
of  these  disorders  and  aspired  to  an  equal  share  in  the  authority, 
if  not  to  the  supreme  control,  f  Violent  affrays  succeeded,  in 


*  Oviedo,  Hist.  Ind.,  lib.  ii.  cap.  12. 


t  Oviedo,  Hist.  Ind.,  lib.  ii.  cap.  1£ 


228 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


which  a  Spaniard  named  Jacomo  was  killed.  Having  failed  in 
their  object,  Gutierrez  and  Escobedo  withdrew  from  the 
fortress  with  nine  of  their  adherents  and  a  number  of  their 
vvomen,  and  turned  their  thoughts  on  distant  enterprise. 
Ha  ving  heard  marvellous  accounts  of  the  mines  of  Cibao,  and 
th®  golden  sands  of  its  mountain  rivers,  they  set  off  for  that 
district,  flushed  with  the  thoughts  of  amassing  immense 
treasure.  Thus  they  disregarded  another  strong  injunction  of 
Columbus,  which  was  to  keep  within  the  friendly  territories  of 
Guacanagari.  The  region  to  which  they  repaired  was  in  the 
interior  of  the  island,  within  the  province  of  Maguana,  ruled 
by  the  famous  Caonabo,  called  by  the  Spaniards  the  Lord  of 
the  Golden  House.  This  renowned  chieftain  was  a  Carib  by 
birth,  and  possessed  the  fierceness  and  enterprise  of  his  nation. 
He  had  come  an  adventurer  to  Hispaniola,  and  by  his  courage 
and  address,  and  his  warlike  exploits,  had  made  himself  the 
most  potent  of  its  caciques.  The  inhabitants  universally  stood 
in  awe  of  him  from  his  Carib  origin,  and  he  was  the  hero  of  the 
island,  when  the  ships  of  the  white  men  suddenly  appeared 
upon  its  shores.  The  wonderful  accounts  of  their  power  and 
prowess  had  reached  him  among  his  mountains,  and  he  had  the 
shrewdness  to  perceive  that  his  consequence  must  decline 
before  such  formidable  intruders.  The  departure  of  Columbus 
gave  him  hopes  that  their  intrusion  would  be  but  temporary. 
The  discords  and  excesses  of  those  who  remained,  while  they 
moved  his  detestation,  inspired  him  with  increasing  confidence. 
No  sooner  did  Gutierrez  and  Escobedo,  with  their  companions, 
take  refuge  in  his  dominions,  than  he  put  them  to  death.  He 
then  formed  a  league  with  the  cacique  of  Marien,  whose  terri¬ 
tories  adjoined  those  of  Guacanagari  on  the  west,  and  con¬ 
certed  a  sudden  attack  upon  the  fortress.  Emerging  with  his 
warriors  from  among  the  mountains,  and  traversing  great 
tracts  of  forest  with  profound  secrecy,  he  arrived  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  village  without  being  discovered.  The  Spaniards, 
confiding  in  the  gentle  and  pacific  nature  of  the  Indians,  had 
neglected  all  military  precautions.  But  ten  men  remained  in 
the  fortress  with  Arana,  and  these  do  not  appear  to  have  main¬ 
tained  any  guard.  The  rest  were  quartered  in  houses  in  the 
neighborhood.  In  the  dead  of  the  night,  when  all  were 
wrapped  in  sleep,  Caonabo  and  his  warriors  burst  upon  the 
place  with  frightful  yells,  got  possession  of  the  fortress  before 
its  inmates  could  put  themselves  upon  their  defence,  and  sur¬ 
rounded  and  set  fire  to  the  houses  in  which  the  rest  of  the 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS.  229 

white  men  were  sleeping.  Eight  of  the  Spaniards  fled  to  the 
seaside  pursued  by  the  savages,  and,  rushing  into  the  waves, 
were  drowned ;  the  rest  were  massacred.  Guacanagari  and  his 
subjects  fought  faithfully  in  defence  of  their  guests,  but  not 
being  of  a  warlike  character,  were  easily  routed ;  the  cacique 
was  wounded  by  the  hand  of  Caonabo,  and  his  village  was 
burnt  to  the  ground.* 

Such  was  the  history  of  the  first  European  establishment  in 
the  New  World.  It  presents  in  a  diminutive  compass  an  epi¬ 
tome  of  the  gross  vices  which  degrade  civilization,  and  the 
grand  political  errors  which  sometimes  subvert  the  mightiest 
empires.  All  law  and  order  being  relaxed  by  corruption  and 
licentiousness,  public  good  was  sacrificed  to  private  interest 
and  passion,  the  community  was  convulsed  by  divers  factions 
and  dissensions,  until  the  whole  was  shaken  asunder  by  two 
aspiring  demagogues,  ambitious  of  the  command  of  a  petty 
fortress  in  a  wilderness,  and  the  supreme  control  oi  eight-and- 
thirty  men. 


CHAPTER  V. 

TRANSACTIONS  WITH  THE  NATIVES— SUSPICIOUS  CONDUCT  OF 

GUACANAGARI. 

[1493.  J 

The  tragical  story  of  the  fortress,  as  gathered  from  the  In¬ 
dians  at  the  harbor,  received  confirmation  from  another  quar¬ 
ter.  One  of  the  captains,  Melchor  Maldonado,  coasting  to  the 
east  with  his  caravel  in  search  of  some  more  favorable  situation 
for  a  settlement,  was  boarded  by  a  canoe  in  which  were  two 
Indians.  One  of  them  was  the  brother  of  Guacanagari,  and 
entreated  him,  in  the  name  of  the  cacique,  to  visit  him  at  the 
village  where  he  lay  ill  of  his  wound.  Maldonado  immediately 
went  to  shore  with  two  or  three  of  his  companions.  They 
found  Guacanagari  confined  by  lameness  to  his  hammock, 
surrounded  by  seven  of  his  wives.  The  cacique  expressed 
great  regret  at  not  being  able  to  visit  the  admiral.  He  related 


*  Herrera,  Hist.  Ind.,  decad.  i.  lib.  ii.  cap.  9.  Letter  of  Dr.  Chanca.  Peter 
Martyr,  decad.  i.  lib.  ii.  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  49.  Cura  de  los  Palacios,  cap. 
SJBO,  ms,  Munoz,  Hist.  N.  Mundo,  lib.  iv. 


230 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


various  particulars  concerning  the  disasters  of  the  garrison, 
and  the  part  which  he  and  his  subjects  had  taken  in  its  defence, 
showing  his  wounded  leg  bound  up.  His  story  agreed  with 
that  already  related.  After  treating  the  Spaniards  with  his 
accustomed  hospitality,  he  presented  to  each  of  them  at  parting 
a  golden  ornament. 

On  the  following  morning  Columbus  repaired  in  person  to 
visit  the  cacique.  To  impress  him  with  an  idea  of  his  present 
power  and  importance,  he  appeared  with  a  numerous  train  of 
officers,  all  richly  dressed  or  in  glittering  armor.  They  found 
Guacanagari  reclining  in  a  hammock  of  cotton  net.  He  exhibit¬ 
ed  great  emotion  on  beholding  the  admiral,  and  immediately 
adverted  to  the  death  of  the  Spaniards.  As  he  related  the  dis¬ 
asters  of  the  garrison  he  shed  many  tears,  but  dwelt  particu¬ 
larly  on  the  part  he  had  taken  in  the  defence  of  his  guests, 
pointing  out  several  of  his  subjects  present  who  had  received 
wounds  in  the  hattle.  It  was  evident  from  the  scars  that  the 
wounds  had  been  received  from  Indian  weapons. 

Columbus  was  readily  satisfied  of  the  good  faith  of  Guacana¬ 
gari.  When  he  reflected  on  the  many  proofs  of  an  open  and 
generous  nature,  which  he  had  given  at  the  time  of  his  ship¬ 
wreck,  he  could  not  believe  him  capable  of  so  dark  an  act  of 
perfidy.  An  exchange  of  presents  now  took  place.  The  cacique 
gave  him  eight  hundred  beads  of  a  certain  stone  called  ciba, 
which  they  considered  highly  precious,  and  one  hundred  of  gold, 
a  golden  coronet,  and  three  small  calabashes  filled  with  gold 
dust,  and  thought  himself  outdone  in  munificence  when  pre¬ 
sented  with  a  number  of  glass  beads,  hawks’  bells,  knives,  pins, 
needles,  small  mirrors,  and  ornaments  of  copper,  which  metal 
he  seemed  to  prefer  to  gold.* 

Guacanagari’s  leg  had  been  violently  bruised  by  a  stone.  At 
the  request  of  Columbus,  he  permitted  it  to  be  examined  by  a 
surgeon  who  was  present.  On  removing  the  bandage  no  signs 
of  a  wound  were  to  be  seen,  although  he  shrunk  with  pain 
whenever  the  limb  was  handled.!  As  some  time  had  elapsed 
since  the  battle,  the  external  bruise  might  have  disappeared, 
while  a  tenderness  remained  in  the  part.  Several  present,  how¬ 
ever,  who  had  not  been  in  the  first  voyage,  and  had  witnessed 
nothing  of  the  generous  conduct  of  the  cacique,  looked  upon  his 
lameness  as  feigned,  and  the  whole  story  of  the  battle  a  fabrica- 


*  Letter  of  Dr.  Chanca.  Navarrete,  Colec.,  tom.  i. 
t  Letter  of  Dr.  Chanca,  Cura  tie  log  Palacios,  cap.  130, 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


231 


tion,  to  conceal  his  real  perfidy.  Father  Boyle  especially,  who 
was  of  a  vindictive  spirit,  advised  the  admiral  to  make  an  im¬ 
mediate  example  of  the  chieftain.  Columbus,  however,  viewed 
the  matter  in  a  different  fight.  Whatever  prepossessions  he 
might  have  were  in  favor  of  the  cacique ;  his  heart  refused  to 
believe  in  his  criminality.  Though  conscious  of  innocence, 
Guacanagari  might  have  feared  the  suspicions  of  the  white 
men,  and  have  exaggerated  the  effects  of  his  wound ;  but  the 
wounds  of  his  subjects  made  by  Indian  weapons,  and  the  de¬ 
struction  of  his  village,  were  strong  proofs  to  Columbus  of  the 
truth  of  his  story.  To  satisfy  his  more  suspicious  followers, 
and  to  pacify  the  friar,  without  gratifying  his  love  for  persecu¬ 
tion,  he  observed  that  true  policy  dictated  amicable  conduct  to¬ 
ward  Guacanagari,  at  least  until  his  guilt  was  fully  ascertained. 
They  had  too  great  a  force  at  present  to  apprehend  anything 
from  his  hostility,  but  violent  measures  in  this  early  stage  of 
their  intercourse  with  the  natives  might  spread  a  general  panic, 
and  impede  all  their  operations  on  the  island.  Most  of  his  offi¬ 
cers  concurred  in  this  opinion ;  so  it  was  determined,  notwith¬ 
standing  the  inquisitorial  suggestions  of  the  friar,  to  take  the 
story  of  the  Indians  for  current  truth,  and  to  continue  to  treat 
them  with  friendship. 

At  the  invitation  of  Columbus,  the  cacique,  though  still  ap¬ 
parently  in  pain  from  his  wound,*  accompanied  him  to  the  ships 
that  very  evening.  He  had  wondered  at  the  power  and  gran¬ 
deur  of  the  white  men  when  they  first  visited  his  shores  with 
two  small  caravels ;  his  wonder  was  infinitely  increased  on  be¬ 
holding  a  fleet  riding  at  anchor  in  the  harbor,  and  on  going  on 
board  of  the  admiral’s  ship,  which  was  a  vessel  of  heavy  burden. 
Here  he  beheld  the  Carib  prisoners.  So  great  was  the  dread  of 
them  among  the  timid  inhabitants  of  Hayti,  that  they  contem¬ 
plated  them  with  fear  and  shuddering,  even  though  in  chains.! 
That  the  admiral  had  dared  to  invade  these  terrible  beings  in 
their  very  island,  and  had  dragged  them  as  it  were  from  their 
strongholds,  was,  perhaps,  one  of  the  greatest  proofs  to  the  In¬ 
dians  of  the  irresistible  prowess  of  the  white  men. 

Columbus  took  the  cacique  through  the  ship.  The  various 
works  of  art;  the  plants  and  fruits  of  the  Old  World;  domestic 
fowls  of  different  kinds,  cattle,  sheep,  swine,  and  other  animals, 
brought  to  stock  the  island,  all  were  wonders  to  him ;  but  what 


*  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  89. 
t  Peter  Martyr,  Letter  153  to  Pomponius  Lietus. 


232 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


most  struck  him  with  amazement  was  the  horses.  He  had  never 
seen  any  hut  the  most  diminutive  quadrupeds,  and  was  aston¬ 
ished  at  their  size,  their  great  strength,  terrific  appearance,  yet 
perfect  docility.*  He  looked  upon  all  these  extraordinary  ob¬ 
jects  as  so  many  wonders  brought  from  heaven,  which  he  still 
believed  to  be  the  native  home  of  the  white  men. 

On  board  of  the  ship  were  ten  of  the  women  delivered  from 
Carib  captivity.  They  were  chiefly  natives  of  the  island  of 
Boriquen,  or  Porto  Rico.  These  soon  attracted  the  notice  of  the 
cacique,  who  is  represented  to  have  been  of  an  amorous  com¬ 
plexion.  He  entered  into  conversation  with  them ;  for  though 
the  islanders  spoke  different  languages,  or  rather,  as  is  more 
probable,  different  dialects  of  the  same  language,  they  were 
able,  in  general,  to  understand  each  other.  Among  these  wo¬ 
men  was  one  distinguished  above  her  companions  by  a  certain 
loftiness  of  air  and  manner ;  she  had  been  much  noticed  and  ad¬ 
mired  by  the  Spaniards,  who  had  given  her  the  name  of  Cata¬ 
lina.  The  cacique  spoke  to  her  repeatedly  with  great  gentleness 
of  tone  and  manner,  pity  in  all  probability  being  mingled  with 
his  admiration ;  for  though  rescued  from  the  hand  of  the  Caribs, 
she  and  her  companions  were  in  a  manner  captives  on  board  of 
the  ship. 

A  collation  was  now  spread  before  the  chieftain,  and  Colum¬ 
bus  endeavored  in  every  way  to  revive  their  former  cordial  in¬ 
tercourse.  He  treated  his  guest  with  every  manifestation  of 
perfect  confidence,  and  talked  of  coming  to  live  with  him  in  his 
present  residence,  and  of  building  houses  in  the  vicinity.  The 
cacique  expressed  much  satisfaction  at  the  idea,  but  observed 
that  the  situation  of  the  place  was  unhealthy,  which  was  indeed 
the  case.  Notwithstanding  every  demonstration  of  friendship, 
however,  the  cacique  was  evidently  ill  at  ease.  The  charm  of 
mutual  confidence  was  broken.  It  was  evident  that  the  gross 
licentiousness  of  the  garrison  had  greatly  impaired  the  venera¬ 
tion  of  the  Indians  for  their  heaven-born  visitors.  Even  the 
reverence  of  the  symbols  of  the  Christian  faith,  which  Columbus 
endeavored  to  inculcate,  was  frustrated  by  the  profligacy  of  its 
votaries.  Though  fond  of  ornaments,  it  was  with  the  greatest 
difficulty  the  cacique  could  be  prevailed  upon  by  the  admiral  to 
suspend  an  image  of  the  Virgin  about  his  neck,  when  he  under* 
stood  it  to  be  an  object  of  Christian  adoration,  f 


*  Hist,  del  Almirante,  ubi  sup.  Letter  of  Dr.  Chanca. 
t  Hist,  del  Almirante.  can.  id 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


233 


The  suspicions  of  the  chieftain’s  guilt  gained  ground  with 
many  of  the  Spaniards.  Father  Boyle,  in  particular,  regarded 
him  with  an  evil  eye,  and  privately  advised  the  admiral,  now 
that  he  had  him  on  board,  to  detain  him  prisoner ;  but  Colum¬ 
bus  rejected  the  counsel  of  the  crafty  friar,  as  contrary  to  sound 
policy  and  honorable  faith.  It  is  difficult,  however,  to  conceal 
lurking  ill-will.  The  cacique,  accustomed,  in  his  former  inter¬ 
course  with  the  Spaniards,  to  meet  with  faces  beaming  with 
gratitude  and  friendship,  could  not  but  perceive  their  altered 
looks.  Notwithstanding  the  frank  and  cordial  hospitality  of 
the  admiral  therefore,  he  soon  begged  permission  to  return  to 
land.* 

The  next  morning  there  was  a  mysterious  movement  among 
the  natives  on  shore.  A  messenger  from  the  cacique  inquired 
of  the  admiral  how  long  he  intended  to  remain  at  the  harbor, 
and  was  informed  that  he  should  sail  on  the  following  day.  In 
the  evening  the  brother  of  Guacanagari  came  on  board,  under 
pretext  of  bartering  a  quantity  of  gold;  he  was  observed  to 
converse  in  private  with  the  Indian  women,  and  particularly 
with  Catalina,  the  one  whose  distinguished  appearance  had  at¬ 
tracted  the  attention  of  Guacanagari.  After  remaining  some 
time  on  board,  he  returned  to  the  shore.  It  would  seem,  from 
subsequent  events,  that  the  cacique  had  been  touched  by  the 
situation  of  this  Indian  beauty,  or  captivated  by  her  charms, 
and  had  undertaken  to  deliver  her  from  bondage. 

At  midnight,  when  the  crew  were  buried  in  their  first  sleep, 
Catalina  awakened  her  companions.  The  ship  was  anchored 
full  three  miles  from  the  shore,  and  the  sea  was  rough;  but 
they  let  themselves  down  from  the  side  of  the  vessel,  and  swam 
bravely  for  the  shore.  With  all  their  precautions  they  were 
overheard  by  the  watch,  and  the  alarm  was  given.  The  boats 
were  hastily  manned,  and  gave  chase  in  the  direction  of  a  light 
blazing  on  the  shore,  an  evident  beacon  for  the  fugitives.  Such 
was  the  vigor  of  these  sea-nymphs  that  they  reached  the  land 
in  safety ;  four  were  retaken  on  the  beach,  but  the  heroic  Cata¬ 
lina  with  the  rest  of  her  companions  made  good  their  escape 
into  the  forest. 

When  the  day  dawned,  Columbus  sent  to  Guacanagari  to  de¬ 
mand  the  fugitives ;  or  if  they  were  not  in  his  possession,  that 
he  would  have  search  made  for  them.  The  residence  of  the 
cacique,  however,  was  silent  and  deserted ;  not  an  Indian  was 


*  Peter  Martyr,  decad  i.  iib.  ii. 


234 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


to  be  seen.  Either  conscious  of  the  suspicions  of  the  Spaniards, 
and  apprehensive  of  their  hostility,  or  desirous  to  enjoy  his 
prize  unmolested,  the  cacique  had  removed  with  all  his  effects, 
his  household,  and  his  followers,  and  had  taken  refuge  with  his 
island  beauty  in  the  interior.  This  sudden  and  mysterious  de¬ 
sertion  gave  redoubled  force  to  the  doubts  heretofore  enter¬ 
tained,  and  Guacanagari  was  generally  stigmatized  as  a  traitor 
to  the  white  men,  and  the  perfidious  destroyer  of  the  gar¬ 
rison.* 


CHAPTER  VI. 

FOUNDING  OF  THE  CITY  OF  ISABELLA — MALADIES  OF  THE 

SPANIARDS. 

% 

[1493.] 

The  misfortunes  of  the  Spaniards  both  by  see  end  land,  in 
the  vicinity  of  this  harbor,  threw  a  gloom  round  the  neighbor¬ 
hood.  The  ruins  of  the  fortress,  and  the  graves  of  their  mur¬ 
dered  countrymen,  were  continually  before  their  eyes,  and  the 
forests  no  longer  looked  beautiful  while  there  was  an  idea  that 
treachery  might  be  lurking  in  their  shades.  The  silence  and 
dreariness,  also,  caused  by  the  desertion  of  the  natives,  gave  a 
sinister  appearance  to  the  place.  It  began  to  be  considered  by 
the  credulous  mariners  as  under  some  baneful  influence  or  ma¬ 
lignant  star.  These  were  sufficient  objections  to  discourage 
the  founding  of  a  settlement,  but  there  were  others  of  a  more 
solid  nature.  The  land  in  the  vicinity  was  low,  moist,  and 
unhealthy,  and  there  was  no  stone  for  building;  Columbus 
determined,  therefore,  to  abandon  the  place  altogether,  and 
found  his  projected  colony  in  some  more  favorable  situation. 
No  time  was  to  be  lost;  the  animals  on  board  the  ships  were 
suffering  from  long  confinement ;  and  the  multitude  of  persons, 
unaccustomed  to  the  sea,  and  pent  up  in  the  fleet,  languished 
for  the  refreshment  of  the  land.  The  fighter  caravels,  there¬ 
fore,  scoured  the  coast  in  each  direction,  entering  the  rivers 
and  harbors,  in  search  of  an  advantageous  site.  They  were  in- 


*  Peter  Martyr,  decad.  i.  lib.  ii,  I-etter  of  Dr.  Chanca.  Cura  de  los  Palacios, 
cap.  180,  ms, 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


235 


structed  also  to  make  inquiries  after  Guacanagari,  of  whom 
Columbus,  notwithstanding  every  suspicious  appearance,  still 
retained  a  favorable  opinion.  The  expeditions  returned  after 
ranging  a  considerable  extent  of  coast  without  success.  There 
were  fine  rivers  and  secure  ports,  but  the  coast  was  low  and 
marshy,  and  deficient  in  stone.  The  country  was  generally 
deserted,  or  if  any  natives  were  seen,  they  fled  immediately  to 
the  woods.  Melchor  Maldonado  had  proceeded  to  the  east¬ 
ward,  until  he  came  to  the  dominions  of  a  cacique,  who  at  first 
issued  forth  at  the  head  of  his  warriors,  with  menacing  aspect, 
but  was  readily  conciliated.  From  him  he  learned  that  Guaca- 
nagari  had  retired  to  the  mountains.  Another  party  discow 
ered  an  Indian  concealed  near  a  hamlet,  having  been  disabled 
by  a  wound  received  from  a  lance  when  fighting  against 
Caonabo.  His  account  of  the  destruction  of  the  fortress  agreed 
with  that  of  the  Indians  at  the  harbor,  and  concurred  to  vindi¬ 
cate  the  cacique  from  the  charge  of  treachery.  Thus  the 
Spaniards  continued  uncertain  as  to  the  real  perpetrators  of 
this  dark  and  dismal  tragedy. 

Being  convinced  that  there  was  no  place  in  this  part  of  the 
island  favorable  for  a  settlement,  Columbus  weighed  anchor  on 
the  7th  of  December,  with  the  intention  of  seeking  the  port  of 
La  Plata.  In  consequence  of  adverse  weather,  however,  he 
was  obliged  to  put  into  a  harbor  about  ten  leagues  east  of 
Monte  Christi ;  and  on  considering  the  place,  was  struck  with 
its  advantages. 

The  harbor  was  spacious,  and  commanded  by  a  point  of  land 
protected  on  one  side  by  a  natural  rampart  of  rocks,  and  on 
another  by  an  impervious  forest,  presenting  a  strong  position 
for  a  fortress.  There  were  two  rivers,  one  large  and  the  other 
small,  watering  a  green  and  beautiful  plain,  and  offering  ad¬ 
vantageous  situations  for  mills.  About  a  bow-shot  from  the  sea, 
on  the  banks  of  one  of  the  rivers,  was  an  Indian  village.  The 
soil  appeared  to  be  fertile,  the  waters  to  abound  in  excellent 
fish,  and  the  climate  to  be  temperate  and  genial ;  for  the  trees 
were  in  leaf,  the  shrubs  in  flower,  and  the  birds  in  song, 
though  it  was  the  middle  of  December.  They  had  not  yet  be¬ 
come  familiarized  with  the  temperature  of  this  favored  island, 
where  the  rigors  of  winter  are  unknown,  where  there  is  a  per¬ 
petual  succession,  and  even  intermixture  of  fruit  and  flower, 
and  where  smiling  verdure  reigns  throughout  the  year. 

Another  grand  inducement  to  form  their  setlement  in  this 

place  was  the  information  received  from  the  Indians  of  the  ad- 


236 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS . 


jacent  village,  that  the  mountains  of  Cibao,  where  the  gold 
mines  were  situated,  lay  at  no  great  distance,  and  almost  par¬ 
allel  to  the  harbor.  It  was  determined,  therefore,  that  there 
could  not  he  a  situation  more  favorable  for  their  colony. 

An  animated  scene  now  commenced.  The  troops  and  various 
persons  belonging  to  the  land  service,  and  the  various  laborers 
and  artificers  to  be  employed  in  building,  were  disembarked. 
The  provisions,  articles  of  traffic,  guns  and  ammunition  for 
defence,  and  implements  of  every  kind,  were  brought  to  shore, 
as  were  also  the  cattle  and  live  stock,  which  had  suffered  exces¬ 
sively  from  long  restraint,  especially  the  horses.  There  was 
a  general  joy  at  escaping  from  the  irksome  confinement  of  the 
ships,  and  once  more  treading  the  firm  earth,  and  breathing 
the  sweetness  of  the  fields.  An  encampment  was  formed  on 
the  margin  of  the  plain,  around  a  basin  or  sheet  of  water,  and 
in  a  little  while  the  whole  place  was  in  activity.  Thus  was 
founded  the  first  Christian  city  of  the  New  World,  to  which 
Columbus  gave  the  name  of  Isabella,  in  honor  of  his  royal 
patroness. 

A  plan  was  formed,  and  streets  and  squares  projected.  The 
greatest  diligence  was  then  exerted  in  erecting  a  church,  a  pub¬ 
lic  storehouse,  and  a  residence  for  the  admiral.  These  were 
built  of  stone,  the  private  houses  were  constructed  of  wood, 
plaster,  reeds,  or  such  materials  as  the  exigency  of  the  case  per¬ 
mitted,  and  for  a  short  time  every  one  exerted  himself  with  the 
utmost  zeal. 

Maladies,  however,  soon  broke  out.  Many,  unaccustomed  to 
the  sea,  had  suffered  greatly  from  confinement  and  sea-sick¬ 
ness,  and  from  subsisting  for  a  length  of  time  on  salt  provi¬ 
sions  much  damaged,  and  mouldy  biscuit.  They  suffered 
great  exposure  on  the  land,  also,  before  houses  could  be  built 
for  their  reception;  for  the  exhalations  of  a  hot  and  moist 
climate,  and  a  new,  rank  soil,  the  humid  vapors  from  rivers, 
and  the  stagnant  air  of  close  forests,  render  the  wilderness  a 
severe  trial  to  constitutions  accustomed  to  old  and  highly-cul¬ 
tivated  countries.  The  labor  also  of  building  houses,  clearing 
fields,  setting  out  orchards,  and  planting  gardens,  having  all  to 
be  done  with  great  haste,  bore  hard  upon  men  who,  after  toss¬ 
ing  so  long  upon  the  ocean,  stood  in  need  of  relaxation  and  re¬ 
pose. 

The  maladies  of  the  mind  mingled  with  those  of  the  body. 
Many,  as  has  been  shown,  had  embarked  in  the  expedition  with 
visionary  and  romantic  expectations.  Some  had  anticipated 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


237 


the  golden  regions  of  Cipango  and  Cathay,  where  they  were  to 
amass  wealth  without  toil  or  trouble;  others  a  region  of 
Asiatic  luxury,  abounding  with  delights;  and  others  a  splen¬ 
did  and  open  career  for  gallant  adventures  and  chivalrous 
enterprises.  What  then  was  their  disappointment  to  find  them¬ 
selves  confined  to  the  margin  of  an  island ;  surrounded  by  im¬ 
practicable  forests ;  doomed  to  struggle  with  the  rudeness  of  a 
wilderness ;  to  toil  painfully  for  mere  subsistence,  and  to  attain 
every  comfort  by  the  severest  exertion.  As  to  gold,  it  was 
brought  to  them  from  various  quarters,  but  in  small  quantities, 
and  it  was  evidently  to  be  procured  only  by  patient  and  perse¬ 
vering  labor.  All  these  disappointments  sank  deep  into  their 
hearts;  their  spirits  flagged  as  their  golden  dreams  melted 
away,  and  the  gloom  of  despondency  aided  the  ravages  of 
disease. 

Columbus  himself  did  not  escape  the  prevalent  maladies. 
The  arduous  nature  of  his  enterprise,  the  responsibility  under 
which  he  found  himself,  not  merely  to  his  followers  and  his 
sovereigns,  but  to  the  world  at  large,  had  kept  his  mind  in  con¬ 
tinual  agitation.  The  cares  of  so  large  a  squadron ;  the  inces¬ 
sant  vigilance  required,  not  only  against  the  lurking  dangers 
of  these  unknown  seas,  but  against  the  passions  and  follies  of 
his  followers ;  the  distress  he  had  suffered  from  the  fate  of  his 
tnurdered  garrison,  and  his  uncertainty  as  to  the  conduct  of 
the  barbarous  tribes  by  which  he  was  surrounded ;  all  these 
had  harassed  his  mind  and  broken  his  rest  while  on  board  the 
ship :  since  landing  new  cares  and  toils  had  crowded  upon  him, 
which,  added  to  the  exposures  incident  to  his  situation  in  this 
new  climate,  completely  overpowered  his  strength.  Still, 
though  confined  for  several  weeks  to  his  bed  by  severe  illness, 
his  energetic  mind  rose  superior  to  the  sufferings  of  the  body, 
and  he  continued  to  give  directions  about  the  building  of  the 
city,  and  to  superintend  the  general  concerns  of  the  expedi¬ 
tion.* 


♦Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap  50.  Herrera,  Hist.  Ind.,  decad.  i.  lib.  ii.  cap.  10.  Peter 
Martyr,  decad.  i.  lib.  ii.  Letter  of  Dr.  Chanca,  etc. 


238 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


CHAPTER  Vn. 

EXPEDITION’  OP  ALONSO  DE  OJEDA  TO  EXPLORE  THE  INTERIOR  OP 
THE  ISLAND — DISPATCH  OF  THE  SHIPS  TO  SPAIN. 

[1493.] 

The  ships  having  discharged  their  cargoes,  it  was  necessary 
to  send  the  greater  part  of  them  back  to  Spain.  Here  new 
anxieties  pressed  upon  the  mind  of  Columbus.  He  had  hoped 
to  find  treasures  of  gold  and  precious  merchandise  accumu¬ 
lated  by  the  men  left  behind  on  the  first  voyage ;  or  at  least 
the  source  of  wealthy  traffic  ascertained,  by  which  speedily 
to  freight  his  vessels.  The  destruction  of  the  garrison  had  de¬ 
feated  all  those  hopes.  He  was  aware  of  the  extravagant  ex¬ 
pectations  entertained  by  the  sovereigns  and  the  nation.  What 
would  be  their  disappointment  when  the  returning  ships 
brought  nothing  but  a  tale  of  disaster!  Something  must  be 
done,  be^e  the  vessels  sailed,  to  keep  up  the  fame  of  his  dis¬ 
coveries,  and  justify  his  own  magnificent  representations. 

As  yet  he  knew  nothing  of  the  interior  of  the  island.  If  it 
were  really  the  island  of  Cipango,  it  must  contain  populous 
cities,  existing  probably  in  some  more  cultivated  region,  beyond 
the  lofty  mountains  with  which  it  was  intersected.  All  the 
Indians  concurred  in  mentioning  Cibao  as  the  tract  of  country 
whence  they  derived  their  gold.  The  very  name  of  its  cacique, 
Caonabo,  signifying  “The  Lord  of  the  Golden  House,”  seemed 
to  indicate  the  wealth  of  his  dominions.  The  tracts  where  the 
mines  were  said  to  abound  lay  at  a  distance  of  but  three  or 
four  days’  journey,  directly  in  the  interior;  Columbus  deter¬ 
mined,  therefore,  to  send  an  expedition  to  explore  it  previous 
to  the  sailing  of  the  ships.  If  the  result  should  confirm  his 
hopes,  he  would  then  be  able  to  send  home  the  fleet  with  confi¬ 
dence,  bearing  tidings  of  the  discovery  of  the  golden  mountains 
of  Cibao.  * 

The  person  he  chose  for  this  enterprise  was  Alonso  de  Ojeda, 
the  same  cavalier  who  has  been  already  noted  for  his  daring 
spirit  and  great  bodily  force  and  agility.  Delighting  in  all  ser¬ 
vice  of  a  hazardous  and  adventurous  nature,  Ojeda  was  the 


♦Herrera,  Hist.  Ind.,  dec.  i.  lib.  ii.  cap.  10. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


239 


more  stimulated  to  this  expedition  from  the  formidable  charac¬ 
ter  of  the  mountain  cacique,  Caonabo,  whose  dominions  he  was 
to  penetrate.  He  set  out  from  the  harbor,  early  in  January, 
1494,  accompanied  by  a  small  force  of  well-armed  and  deter¬ 
mined  men,  several  of  them  young  and  spirited  cavaliers  like 
himself.  He  struck  directly  southward  into  the  interior.  For 
the  two  first  days  the  march  was  toilsome  and  difficult,  through 
a  country  abandoned  by  its  inhabitants;  for  terror  of  the 
Spaniards  extended  along  the  sea-coast.  On  the  second  even¬ 
ing  they  came  to  a  lofty  range  of  mountains,  which  they  as¬ 
cended  by  an  Indian  path,  winding  up  a  steep  and  narrow 
defile,  and  they  slept  for  the  night  at  the  summit.  Hence,  the 
next  morning,  they  beheld  the  sun  rise  with  great  glory  over 
a  vast  and  delicious  plain  covered  with  noble  forests,  studded 
with  villages  and  hamlets,  and  enlivened  by  the  shining 
waters  of  the  Yagui. 

Descending  into  this  plain,  Ojeda  and  his  companions  boldly 
entered  the  Indian  village.  The  inhabitants,  far  from  being 
hostile,  overwhelmed  them  with  hospitality,  and,  in  fact,  im¬ 
peded  their  journey  by  their  kindness.  They  had  also  to  ford 
many  rivers  in  traversing  this  plain,  so  that  they  were  five  or 
six  days  in  reaching  the  chain  of  mountains  which  locked  up,  as 
it  were,  the  golden  region  of  Cibao.  They  penetrated  into  this 
district,  without  meeting  with  any  other  obstacles  than  those 
presented  by  the  rude  nature  of  the  country.  Caonabo,  so  re¬ 
doubtable  for  his  courage  and  ferocity,  must  have  been  in  some 
distant  part  of  his  dominions,  for  he  never  appeared  to  dispute 
their  progress.  The  natives  received  them  with  kindness; 
they  were  naked  and  uncivilized,  like  the  other  inhabitants  of 
the  island,  nor  were  there  any  traces  of  the  important  cities 
which  their  imaginations  had  once  pictured  forth.  They  saw, 
however,  ample  signs  of  natural  wealth.  The  sands  of  the 
mountain  streams  glittered  with  particles  of  gold;  these  the 
natives  would  skilfully  separate,  and  give  to  the  Spaniards  with¬ 
out  expecting  a  recompense.  In  some  places  they  picked  up 
large  specimens  of  virgin  ore  from  the  beds  of  the  torrents,  and 
stones  streaked  and  richly  impregnated  with  it.  Peter  Martyr 
affirms  that  he  saw  a  mass  of  rude  gold  weighing  nine  ounces, 
which  Ojeda  himself  had  found  in  one  of  the  brooks.* 

All  these  were  considered  as  mere  superficial  washings  of 
the  soil,  betraying  the  hidden  treasures  lurking  in  the  deep 


*  ?e ter  Martyr,,  decad.  i,  lib.  ii. 


240 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


veins  and  rocky  bosoms  of  the  mountains,  and  only  requiring 
the  hand  of  labor  to  bring  them  to  light.  As  the  object  of  his 
expedition  was  merely  to  ascertain  the  nature  of  the  country, 
Ojeda  led  back  his  little  band  to  the  harbor,  full  of  enthusiastic 
accounts  of  the  golden  promise  of  these  mountains.  A  young 
cavalier  of  the  name  of  Gorvalan,  who  had  been  dispatched  at 
the  same  time  on  a  similar  expedition,  and  who  had  explored  a 
different  tract  of  country,  returned  with  similar  reports. 
These  flattering  accounts  served  for  a  time  to  animate  the 
drooping  and  desponding  colonists,  and  induced  Columbus  to 
believe  that  it  was  only  necessary  to  explore  the  mines  of 
Cibao,  to  open  inexhaustible  sources  of  riches.  He  determined, 
as  soon  as  his  health  would  permit,  to  repair  in  person  to  the 
mountains,  and  seek  a  favorable  site  for  a  mining  establish¬ 
ment.* 

The  season  was  now  propitious  for  the  return  of  the  fleet, 
and  Columbus  lost  no  time  in  dispatching  twelve  of  the  ships 
under  the  command  of  Antonio  de  Torres,  retaining  only  five 
for  the  service  of  the  colony. 

By  this  opportunity  he  sent  home  specimens  of  the  gold  found 
among  the  mountains  and  rivers  of  Cibao,  and  all  such  fruits 
and  plants  as  were  curious,  or  appeared  to  be  valuable.  He 
wrote  in  the  most  sanguine  terms  of  the  expeditions  of  Ojeda 
and  Gorvalan,  the  last  of  whom  returned  to  Spain  in  the  fleet. 
He  repeated  his  confident  anticipations  of  soon  being  able  to 
make  abundant  shipments  of  gold,  of  precious  drugs  and 
spices ;  the  search  for  them  being  delayed  for  the  present  by 
the  sickness  of  himself  and  people,  and  the  cares  and  labors  re¬ 
quired  in  building  the  infant  city.  He  described  the  beauty 
and  fertility  of  the  island ;  its  range  of  noble  mountains ;  its 
wide,  abundant  plains,  watered  by  beautiful  rivers ;  the  quick 
fecundity  of  the  soil,  evinced  in  the  luxuriant  growth  of  the 
sugar-cane,  and  of  various  grains  and  vegetables  brought  from 
Europe. 

As  it  would  take  some  time,  however,  to  obtain  provisions 
from  their  fields  and  gardens,  and  the  produce  of  their  live 
stock,  adequate  to  the  subsistence  of  the  colony,  which  consist¬ 
ed  of  about  a  thousand  souls ;  and  as  they  could  not  accustom 
themselves  to  the  food  of  the  natives,  Columbus  requested 
present  supplies  from  Spain.  Their  provisions  were  already 
growing  scanty.  Much  of  their  wine  had  been  lost  from  the 


*  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  50. 


LIFE  OF  CniUSTOPIlER  COLUMBUS. 


241 


badness  of  the  casks ;  and  the  colonists,  in  their  infirm  state  of 
health,  suffered  greatly  from  the  want  of  their  accustomed  diet. 
There  was  an  immediate  necessity  of  medicines,  clothing,  and 
arms.  Horses  were  required  likewise  for  the  public  works, 
and  for  military  service ;  being  found  of  great  effect  in  awing 
the  natives,  who  had  the  utmost  dread  of  those  animals.  He 
requested  also  an  additional  number  of  workmen  and  mechan¬ 
ics,  and  men  skilled  in  mining  and  in  smelting  and  purifying 
ore.  He  recommended  various  persons  to  the  notice  and  favor 
of  the  sovereigns,  among  whom  was  Pedro  Margerite,  an  Arra- 
gonian  cavalier  of  the  order  of  St.  Jago,  who  had  a  wife  and 
children  to  be  provided  for,  and  who,  for  his  good  services, 
Columbus  begged  might  be  appointed  to  a  command  in  the 
order  to  which  he  belonged.  In  like  manner  he  entreated  pa¬ 
tronage  for  Juan  Aguado,  who  was  about  to  return  in  the  fleet, 
making  particular  mention  of  his  merits.  From  both  of  these 
men  he  was  destined  to  experience  the  most  signal  ingratitude. 

In  these  ships  he  sent  also  the  men,  women,  and  children 
taken  in  the  Caribbee  Islands,  recommending  that  they  should 
be  carefully  instructed  in  the  Spanish  language  and  the  Chris¬ 
tian  faith.  From  the  roving  and  adventurous  nature  of  these 
people,  and  their  general  acquaintance  with  the  various  lan¬ 
guages  of  this  great  archipelago,  he  thought  that,  when  the 
precepts  of  religion  and  the  usages  of  civilization  had  reformed 
their  savage  manners  and  cannibal  propensities,  they  might  be 
rendered  eminently  serviceable  as  interpreters,  and  as  means 
of  propagating  the  doctrines  of  Christianity. 

Among  the  many  sound  and  salutary  suggestions  in  this  let¬ 
ter,  there  is  one  of  a  most  pernicious  tendency,  written  in  that 
mistaken  view  of  natural  rights  prevalent  at  the  day,  but  fruit¬ 
ful  of  much  wrong  and  misery  in  the  world.  Considering  that 
the  greater  the  number  of  these  cannibal  pagans  transferred  to 
the  Catholic  soil  of  Spain,  the  greater  would  be  the  number  of 
souls  put  in  the  way  of  salvation,  he  proposed  to  establish  an 
exchange  of  them  as  slaves,  against  live  stock,  to  be  furnished 
by  merchants  to  the  colony.  The  ships  to  bring  such  stock 
were  to  land  nowhere  but  at  the  Island  of  Isabella,  where  the 
Carib  captives  would  be  ready  for  delivery.  A  duty  was  to  be 
levied  on  each  slave  for  the  benefit  of  the  royal  revenue.  In 
this  way  the  colony  would  be  furnished  with  all  kinds  of  five 
stock  free  of  expense;  the  peaceful  islanders  would  be  freed 
from  warlike  and  inhuman  neighbors ;  the  royal  treasury  would 
be  greatly  enriched;  and  a  vast  number  of  souls  would  be 


242 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


snatched  from  perdition,  and  carried,  as  it  were,  by  main  force 
to  heaven.  Such  is  the  strange  sophistry  by  which  upright  men 
may  sometimes  deceive  themselves.  Columbus  feared  the  dis¬ 
appointment  of  the  sovereigns  in  respect  to  the  product  of  his 
enterprises,  and  was  anxious  to  devise  some  mode  of  lightening 
their  expenses  until  he  could  open  some  ample  source  of  profit. 
The  conversion  of  infidels,  by  fair  means  or  foul,  by  persua¬ 
sion  or  force,  was  one  of  the  popular  tenets  of  the  day ;  and  in 
recommending  the  enslaving  of  the  Caribs,  Columbus  thought 
that  he  was  obeying  the  dictates  of  his  conscience,  when  he  was 
in  reality  listening  to  the  incitements  of  his  interest.  It  is  but 
just  to  add  that  the  sovereigns  did  not  accord  with  his  ideas, 
but  ordered  that  the  Caribs  should  be  converted  like  the  rest 
of  the  islanders ;  a  command  which  emanated  from  the  merci¬ 
ful  heart  of  Isabella,  who  ever  showed  herself  the  benign  pro¬ 
tectress  of  the  Indians. 

The  fleet  put  to  sea  on  the  2d  of  February,  1494.  Though  it 
brought  back  no  wealth  to  Spain,  yet  expectation  was  kept 
alive  by  the  sanguine  letter  of  Columbus,  and  the  specimens  of 
gold  which  he  transmitted ;  his  favorable  accounts  were  corrob¬ 
orated  by  letters  from  Friar  Boyle,  Doctor  Chanca,  and  other 
persons  of  credibility,  and  by  the  personal  reports  of  Gorvalan. 
The  sordid  calculations  of  petty  spirits  were  as  yet  overruled 
by  the  enthusiasm  of  generous  minds,  captivated  by  the  lofty 
nature  of  these  enterprises.  There  was  something  wonderfully 
grand  in  the  idea  of  thus  introducing  new  races  of  animals  and 
plants,  of  building  cities,  extending  colonies,  and  sowing  the 
seeds  of  civilization  and  of  enlightened  empire  in  this  beautiful 
but  savage  world.  It  struck  the  minds  of  learned  and  classical 
men  with  admiration,  filling  them  with  pleasant  dreams  and 
reveries,  and  seeming  to  realize  the  poetical  pictures  of  the 
olden  time.  “ Columbus,”  says  old  Peter  Martyr,  “has  begun 
to  build  a  city,  as  he  has  lately  written  to  me,  and  to  sow  our 
seeds  and  propagate  our  animals !  Who  of  us  shall  now  speak 
with  wonder  of  Saturn,  Ceres,  and  Triptolemus,  travelling  about 
the  earth  to  spread  new  inventions  among  mankind?  Or  of  the 
Phoenicians  who  built  Tyre  or  Sidon?  Or  of  the  Tyrians  them¬ 
selves,  whose  roving  desires  led  them  to  migrate  into  foreign 
lands,  to  build  new  cities,  and  establish  new  communities?”* 

Such  were  the  comments  of  enlightened  and  benevolent  men, 
who  hailed  with  enthusiasm  the  discovery  of  the  New  World, 


*  Letter  153  to  Pomponius  Lsetus. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLXJMBUS. 


243 


not  for  the  wealth  it  would  bring  to  Europe,  but  for  the  field  it 
would  open  for  glorious  and  benevolent  enterprise,  and  the 
blessings  and  improvements  of  civilized  life,  which  it  would 
widely  dispense  through  barbarous  and  uncultivated  regions. 


Note. — Isabella  at  the  present  day  is  quite  overgrown  with  forest,  in  the  midst  of 
which  are  still  to  be  seen,  partly  standing,  the  pillars  of  the  church,  some  remains 
of  the  king’s  storehouses,  and  part  of  the  residence  of  Columbus,  all  built  of  hewn 
stone.  The  small  fortress  is  also  a  prominent  ruin;  and  a  little  north  of  it  is  a  cir¬ 
cular  pillar  about  ten  feet  high  and  as  much  in  diameter,  of  solid  masonry,  nearly 
entire;  which  appears  to  have  had  a  wooden  gallery  or  battlement  round  the  top 
for  the  convenience  of  room,  and  in  the  centre  of  which  was  planted  the  flagstaff. 
Having  discovered  the  remains  of  an  iron  clamp  imbedded  in  the  stone,  which 
served  to  secure  the  flagstaff  itself,  J  tore  it  out,  and  now  consign  to  you  this  curi¬ 
ous  relic  of  the  first  foothold  of  civilization  in  the  New  World,  after  it  has  been  ex¬ 
posed  to  the  elements  nearly  three  hundred  and  fifty  years. — From  the  Letter  of 
T.  S.  Heneker. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

DISCONTENTS  AT  ISABELLA— MUTINY  OF  BERNAL  DIAZ  DE  PISA. 

[1494.] 

The  embryo  city  of  Isabella  was  rapidly  assuming  a  form.  A 
dry  stone  wall  surrounded  it,  to  protect  it  from  any  sudden  at¬ 
tack  of  the  natives,  although  the  most  friendly  disposition  was 
evinced  by  the  Indians  of  the  vicinity,  who  brought  supplies  of 
their  simple  articles  of  food,  and  gave  them  in  exchange  for  Euro¬ 
pean  trifles.  On  the  day  of  the  Epiphany,  the  6th  of  February, 
the  chur  h  being  sufficiently  completed,  high  mass  was  cele¬ 
brated  with  great  pomp  and  ceremony,  by  Friar  Boyle  and  the 
twelve  ecclesiastics.  The  affairs  of  the  settlement  being  thus  ap¬ 
parently  in  a  regular  train,  Columbus,  though  still  confined  by 
indisposition,  began  to  make  arrangements  for  his  contemplated 
expedition  to  the  mountains  of  Cibao,  when  an  unexpected  dis¬ 
turbance  in  his  little  community  for  a  time  engrossed  his  at¬ 
tention. 

The  sailing  of  the  fleet  for  Spain  had  been  a  melancholy  sight 
to  many  whose  terms  of  enlistment  compelled  them  to  remain 
on  the  island.  Disappointed  in  their  expectations  of  immediate 
wealth,  disgusted  with  the  labors  imposed  on  them,  and  ap¬ 
palled  by  the  maladies  prevalent  throughout  the  community, 
they  began  to  look  with  horror  upon  the  surrounding  wildet 


244 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


ness,  as  destined  to  be  the  grave  of  their  hopes  and  of  them, 
selves.  When  the  last  sail  disappeared,  they  felt  as  if  completely 
severed  from  their  country;  and  the  tender  recollections  of 
home,  which  had  been  checked  for  a  time  by  the  novelty  and 
bustle  around  them,  rushed  with  sudden  force  upon  their  minds. 
To  return  to  Spain  became  their  ruling  idea,  and  the  same  want 
of  reflection  which  had  hurried  them  into  the  enterprise,  with¬ 
out  inquiring  into  its  real  nature,  now  prompted  them  to  extri¬ 
cate  themselves  from  it,  by  any  means  however  desperate. 

Where  popular  discontents  prevail  there  is  seldom  wanting 
some  daring  spirit  to  give  them  a  dangerous  direction.  One 
Bernard  Diaz  de  Pisa,  a  man  of  some  importance,  who  had  held 
a  civil  office  about  the  court,  had  come  out  with  the  expedition 
as  Comptroller ;  he  seems  to  have  presumed  upon  his  official 
powers,  and  to  have  had  early  differences  with  the  admiral. 
Disgusted  with  his  employment  in  the  colony,  he  soon  made  a 
faction  among  the  discontented,  and  proposed  that  they  should 
take  advantage  of  the  indisposition  of  Columbus,  to  seize  upon 
some  or  all  of  the  five  ships  in  the  harbor,  and  return  in  them 
to  Spain.  It  would  be  easy  to  justify  their  clandestine  return, 
by  preferring  a  complaint  against  the  admiral,  representing  the 
fallacy  of  his  enterprises,  and  accusing  him  of  gross  deceptions 
and  exaggerations  in  his  accounts  of  the  countries  he  had  dis¬ 
covered.  It  is  probable  that  some  of  these  people  really  con¬ 
sidered  him  culpable  of  the  charges  thus  fabricated  against  him ; 
for  in  the  disappointment  of  their  avaricious  hopes,  they  over¬ 
looked  the  real  value  of  those  fertile  islands,  which  were  to  en¬ 
rich  nations  by  the  produce  of  their  soil.  Every  oountry  was 
sterile  and  unprofitable  in  their  eyes  that  did  not  immediately 
teem  with  gold.  Though  they  had  continual  proofs  in  the 
specimens  brought  by  the  natives  to  the  settlement,  or  fur¬ 
nished  to  Ojeda  and  Gorvalan,  that  the  rivers  and  mountains 
in  the  interior  abounded  with  ore,  yet  even  these  daily  proofs 
were  falsified  in  their  eyes.  One  Fermin  Cedo,  a  wrong-headed 
and  obstinate  man,  who  had  come  out  as  assayer  and  purifier 
of  metals,  had  imbibed  the  same  prejudice  against  the  expedi¬ 
tion  with  Bernal  Diaz.  He  pertinaciously  insisted  that  there 
was  no  gold  in  the  island ;  or  at  least  that  it  was  found  in  such 
inconsiderable  quantities  as  not  to  repay  the  search.  He  de¬ 
clared  that  the  large  grains  of  virgin  ore  brought  by  the  natives 
had  been  melted ;  that  they  had  been  the  slow  accumulation  of 
many  years,  having  remained  a  long  time  in  the  families  of 
the  Indians,  and  handed  down  from  generation  to  generation; 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


245 


which  in  many  instances  was  probably  the  case.  Other  speci¬ 
mens  of  a  large  size  he  pronounced  of  a  very  inferior  quality, 
and  debased  with  brass  by  the  natives.  The  words  of  this  man 
outweighed  the  evidence  of  facts,  and  many  joined  him  in  the 
belief  that  the  island  was  really  destitute  of  gold.  It  was  not 
until  some  time  afterward  that  the  real  character  of  Fermin 
Cedo  was  ascertained,  and  the  discovery  made  that  his  igno¬ 
rance  was  at  least  equal  to  his  obstinacy  and  presumption; 
qualities  apt  to  enter  largely  into  the  compound  of  a  meddle* 
some  and  mischievous  man.* 

Encouraged  by  such  substantial  co-operation,  a  number  of 
turbulent  spirits  concerted  to  take  immediate  possession  of  the 
ships  and  make  sail  for  Europe.  The  influence  of  Bernal  Diaz 
de  Pisa  at  court  would  obtain  for  them  a  favorable  hearing, 
and  they  trusted  to  their  unanimous  representations,  to  preju- 
dice  Columbus  in  the  opinion  of  the  public,  ever  fickle  in  its 
smiles,  and  most  ready  to  turn  suddenly  and  capriciously  from 
the  favorites  it  has  most  idolized. 

Fortunately  this  mutiny  was  discovered  before  it  proceeded 
to  action.  Columbus  immediately  ordered  the  ringleaders  to 
be  arrested.  On  making  investigations,  a  memorial  or  infor¬ 
mation  against  himself,  full  of  slanders  and  misrepresentations, 
was  found  concealed  in  the  buoy  of. one  of  the  ships.  It  was  in 
the  handwriting  of  Bernal  Diaz.  The  admiral  conducted  him¬ 
self  with  great  moderation.  Out  of  respect  to  the  rank  and 
station  of  Diaz,  he  forbore  to  inflict  any  punishment ;  but  con¬ 
fined  him  on  board  one  of  the  ships,  to  be  sent  to  Spain  for 
trial,  together  with  the  process  or  investigation  of  his  offence, 
and  the  seditious  memorial  which  had  been  discovered.  Sev¬ 
eral  of  the  inferior  mutineers  were  punished  according  to  the 
degree  of  their  culpability,  but  not  with  the  severity  which 
their  offence  deserved.  To  guard  against  any  recurrence  of  a 
similar  attempt,  Columbus  ordered  that  all  the  guns  and  naval 
munitions  should  be  taken  out  of  four  of  the  vessels,  and  put 
into  the  principal  ship,  which  was  given  in  charge  to  persons 
in  whom  he  could  place  implicit  confidence,  f 

This  was  the  first  time  Columbus  exercised  the  right  of  pun¬ 
ishing  delinquents  in  his  new  government,  and  it  immediately 
awakened  the  most  violent  animadversions.  His  measures, 
though  necessary  for  the  general  safety,  and  characterized  by 


*  Cura  de  los  Palacios,  cap.  320, 122,  ms. 

t  Herrera,  Hist,  In&.  deead,  i.  lib.  ii.  cap.  11.  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap  50. 


246 


LIFE  OF  CEBIS  TO  PEER  COLUMBUS. 


the  greatest  lenity,  were  censured  as  arbitrary  and  vindictive. 
Already  the  disadvantage  of  being  a  foreigner  among  the  people 
he  was  to  govern  was  clearly  manifested.  He  had  national 
prejudices  to  encounter,  of  all  others  the  most  general  and  il¬ 
liberal.  He  had  no  natural  friends  to  rally  round  him ;  where¬ 
as  the  mutineers  had  connections  in  Spain,  friends  in  the  colony, 
and  met  with  sympathy  in  every  discontented  mind.  An  early 
hostility  was  thus  engendered  against  Columbus,  which  con 
tinued  to  increase  throughout  his  life,  and  the  seeds  were  sown 
of  a  series  of  factions  and  mutinies  which  afterward  distracted 
the  island. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

EXPEDITION  OF  COLUMBUS  TO  THE  MOUNTAINS  OF  CIBA<X 

[1494.] 

Having  at  length  recovered  from  his  long  illness,  and  the 
mutiny  at  the  settlement  being  effectually  checked,  Columbus 
prepared  for  his  immediate  departure  for  Cibao.  He  intrusted 
the  command  of  the  city  and  the  ships,  during  his  absence,  to 
bis  brother  Don  Diego,  appointing  able  persons  to  counsel  and 
assist  him.  Don  Diego  is  represented  by  Las  Casas,  who  knew 
him  personally,  as  a  man  of  great  merit  and  discretion,  of  a 
gentle  and  pacific  disposition,  and  more  characterized  by  sim¬ 
plicity  than  shrewdness.  He  was  sober  in  his  attire,  wearing 
almost  the  dress  of  an  ecclesiastic,  and  Las  Casas  thinks  he 
had  secret  hopes  of  preferment  in  the  church ;  *  indeed  Colum¬ 
bus  intimates  as  much  when  he  mentions  him  in  his  will. 

As  the  admiral  intended  to  build  a  fortress  in  the  mountains, 
and  to  form  an  establishment  for  working  the  mines,  he  took 
with  him  the  necessary  artificers,  workmen,  miners,  munitions, 
and  implements.  He  was  also  about  to  enter  the  territories  of 
the  redoubtable  Caonabo ;  it  was  important,  therefore,  to  take 
with  him  a  force  that  should  not  only  secure  him  against  any 
warlike  opposition,  but  should  spread  through  the  country  a 
formidable  idea  of  the  power  of  the  white  men,  and  deter  the 
Indians  from  any  future  violence,  either  toward  communities 


♦  Las  Casas,  Hist.  Ind,,  lib.  i.  cap.  82,  ms. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


247 


or  wandering  individuals.  Every  healthy  person,  therefore, 
who  could  be  spared  from  the  settlement,  was  put  in  requisi¬ 
tion,  together  with  all  the  cavalry  that  could  be  mustered ;  and 
every  arrangement  was  made  to  strike  the  savages  with  the 
display  of  military  splendor. 

On  the  12th  of  March  Columbus  set  out  at  the  head  of  about 
four  hundred  men  well  armed  and  equipped,  with  shining  hel¬ 
mets  and  corselets ;  with  arquebuses,  lances,  swords,  and  cross¬ 
bows,  and  followed  by  a  multitude  of  the  neighboring  Indians. 
They  sallied  from  the  city  in  martial  array,  with  banners  flying, 
and  sound  of  drum  and  trumpet.  Their  march  for  the  first  day 
was  across  the  plain  between  the  sea  and  the  mountains,  ford¬ 
ing  two  rivers,  and  passing  through  a  fair  and  verdant  coun¬ 
try.  They  encamped  in  the  evening,  in  the  midst  of  pleasant 
fields,  at  the  foot  of  a  wild  and  rocky  pass  of  the  mountains. 

The  ascent  of  this  rugged  defile  presented  formidable  diffi¬ 
culties  to  the  little  army,  incumbered  as  it  was  with  various 
implements  and  munitions.  There  was  nothing  but  an  Indian 
footpath,  winding  among  rocks  and  precipices,  or  through 
brakes  and  thickets,  entangled  by  the  rich  vegetation  of  a 
tropical  forest.  A  number  of  high-spirited  young  cavaliers 
volunteered  to  open  a  route  for  the  army.  They  had  probably 
learnt  this  kind  of  service  in  the  Moorish  wars,  where  it  was 
often  necessary  on  a  sudden  to  open  roads  for  the  march  of 
troops,  and  the  conveyance  of  artillery  across  the  mountains 
of  Granada.  Throwing  themselves  in  advance  with  laborers 
and  pioneers,  whom  they  stimulated  by  their  example,  as  well 
as  by  promises  of  liberal  reward,  they  soon  constructed  the 
first  road  formed  in  the  New  World,  and  which  was  called  El 
Puerto  de  los  Hidalgos,  or  The  Gentlemen’s  Pass,  in  honor  of 
the  gallant  cavaliers  who  effected  it.* 

On  the  following  day  the  army  toiled  up  this  steep  defile,  and 
arrived  where  the  gore  of  the  mountain  opened  into  the  interior. 
Here  a  land  of  promise  suddenly  burst  upon  their  view.  It 
was  the  same  glorious  prospect  which  had  delighted  Ojeda  and 
his  companions.  Below  lay  a  vast  and  delicious  plain,  painted 
and  enamelled,  as  it  were,  with  all  the  rich  variety  of  tropical 
vegetation.  The  magnificent  forests  presented  that  mingled 
beauty  and  majesty  of  vegetable  forms  known  only  to  these 
generous  climates.  Palms  of  prodigious  height,  and  spreading 


♦Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  50.  Hidalgo,  i.e.,  Hijo  de  Algo,  literally,  “a  son  of 
somebody,”  in  contradistinction  to  an  obscure  and  low-born  man,  a  son  of  nobody. 


248 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


mahogany  trees,  towered  from  amid  a  wilderness  of  variegated 
foliage.  Freshness  and  verdure  were  maintained  by  numerous 
streams,  which  meandered  gleaming  through  the  deep  bosom 
of  the  woodland ;  while  various  villages  and  hamlets,  peeping 
from  among  the  trees,  and  the  smoke  of  others  rising  out  of 
the  midst  of  the  forests,  gave  signs  of  a  numerous  population. 
The  luxuriant  landscape  extended  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach, 
until  it  appeared  to  melt  away  and  mingle  with  the  horizon. 
The  Spaniards  gazed  with  rapture  upon  this  soft,  voluptuous 
country,  which  seemed  to  realize  their  ideas  of  a  terrestrial 
paradise ;  and  Columbus,  struck  with  its  vast  extent,  gave  it 
the  name  of  the  Vega  Real,  or  Royal  Plain.* 

Having  descended  the  rugged  pass,  the  army  issued  upon  the 
plain,  in  martial  style,  with  great  clangor  of  warlike  instru¬ 
ments.  When  the  Indians  beheld  this  shining  band  of  warriors, 
glittering  in  steel,  emerging  from  the  mountains  with  prancing 
steeds  and  flaunting  banners,  and  heard,  for  the  first  time,  their 
rocks  and  forests  echoing  to  the  din  of  drum  and  trumpet,  they 
might  well  have  taken  such  a  wonderful  pageant  for  a  super¬ 
natural  vision. 

In  this  way  Columbus  disposed  of  his  forces  whenever  he 


*  Las  Casas,  Hist.  Ind.,  lib.  i.  cap.  90,  ms. 

Extract  of  a  Letter  from  T.  S.  Heneken,  Esq.,  dated  Santiago  (St.  Domingo ),  20 th 

September ,  1847. 

The  route  over  which  Columbus  traced  his  course  from  Isabella  to  the  mountains 
of  Cibao  exists  in  all  its  primitive  rudeness.  The  Puerto  de  los  Hidalgos  is  still  the 
narrow  rugged  footpath  winding  among  rocks  and  precipices,  leading  through  the 
only  practicable  defile  which  traverses  the  Monte  Christi  range  of  mountains  in  this 
vicinity,  at  present  called  the  Pass  of  Marney*  and  it  is  somewhat  surprising  that, 
of  this  first  and  remarkable  footprint  of  the  white  man  in  the  New  World,  there 
does  not  at  the  present  day  exist  the  least  tradition  of  its  former  name  or  impor¬ 
tance. 

The  spring  of  cool  and  delightful  water  met  with  in  the  gorge,  in  a  deep  dark  glen 
overshadowed  by  palm  and  mahogany  trees,  near  the  outlet  where  the  magnificent 
Vega  breaks  upon  the  view,  still  continues  to  quench  the  thirst  of  the  weary  travel¬ 
ler.  When  I  drank  from  this  lonely  little  fountain,  I  could  hardly  .realize  the  fact 
that  Columbus  must  likewise  have  partaken  of  its  sparkling  waters,  when  at  the 
height  of  his  glory,  surrounded  by  cavaliers  attired  in  the  gorgeous  costumes  of  the 
age,  and  warriors  recently  from  the  Moorish  wars. 

Judging  by  the  distance  stated  to  have  been  travelled  over  the  plain,  Columbus 
must  have  crossed  the  Yaqui  near  or  at  Ponton;  which  very  likely  received  its  name 
from  the  rafts  or  pontoons  employed  to*cross  the  river.  Abundance  of  reeds  grow 
along  its  banks,  and  the  remains  of  an  Indian  village  are  still  very  distinctly  to  be 
traced  in  the  vicinity.  By  this  route  he  avoided  two  large  rivers,  the  Amina  and 
the  Mar,  which  discharge  their  waters  into  the  Yaqui  opposite  Esperanza. 

The  road  from  Ponton  to  the  River  Hanique  passes  through  the  defiles  of  La 
Cuesta  and  Nicayagua. 


LIFE  OF  CHRIS  TO  PEER  COLUMBUS. 


249 


approached  a  populous  village,  placing  the  cavalry  in  front,  for 
the  horses  inspired  a  mingled  terror  and  admiration  among  the 
natives.  Las  Casas  observes  that  at  first  they  supposed  the 
rider  and  his  horse  to  be  one  animal,  and  nothing  could  exceed 
their  astonishment  at  seeing  the  horsemen  dismount,  a  circum 
stance  which  shows  that  the  alleged  origin  of  the  ancient  fable 
of  the  centaurs  is  at  least  founded  in  nature.  On  the  approach 
of  the  army  the  Indians  generally  fled  with  terror,  and  took 
refuge  in  their  houses.  Such  was  their  simplicity,  that  they 
merely  put  up  a  slight  barrier  of  reeds  at  the  portal,  and  seemed 
to  consider  themselves  perfectly  secure.  Columbus,  pleased  to 
meet  with  such  artlessness,  ordered  that  these  frail  barriers 
should  be  scrupulously  respected,  and  the  inhabitants  allowed 
to  remain  in  their  fancied  security.*  By  degrees  their  fears 
were  allayed  through  the  mediation  of  interpreters  and  the  dis¬ 
tribution  of  ‘trifling  presents.  Their  kindness  and  gratitude 
could  not  then  be  exceeded,  and  the  march  of  the  army  was 
continually  retarded  by  the  hospitality  of  the  numerous  villages 
through  which  it  passed.  Such  was  the  frank  communion 
among  these  people  that  the  Indians  who  accompanied  the 
army  entered  without  ceremony  into  the  houses,  helping  them¬ 
selves  to  anything  of  which  they  stood  in  need,  without  excit¬ 
ing  surprise  or  anger  in  the  inhabitants ;  the  latter  offered  to 
do  the  same  with  respect  to  the  Spaniards,  and  seemed  asto¬ 
nished  when  they  met  a  repulse.  This,  it  is  probable,  was  the 
case  merely  with  respect  to  articles  of  food;  for  we  are  told 
that  the  Indians  were  not  careless  in  their  notions  of  property, 
and  the  crime  of  theft  was  one  of  the  few  which  were  punished 
among  them  with  great  severity.  Food,  however,  is  generally 
open  to  free  participation  in  savage  life,  and  is  rarely  made  an 
object  of  barter,  until  habits  of  trade  have  been  introduced  by 
the  white  men.  The  untutored  savage  in  almost  every  part  of 
the  world  scorns  to  make  a  traffio  of  hospitality. 

After  a  march  of  five  leagues  across  the  plain,  they  arrived 
at  the  banks  of  a  large  and  beautiful  stream,  called  by  the 
natives  Yagui,  but  to  which  the  admiral  gave  the  name  of  the 
River  of  Reeds.  He  was  not  aware  that  it  was  the  same  stream, 
which,  after  winding  through  the  Vega,  falls  into  the  sea  near 
Monte  Christi,  and  which,  in  his  first  voyage,  he  had  named  the 
River  of  Gold.  On  its  green  banks  the  army  encamped  for  the 
night,  animated  and  delighted,  with  the  beautiful  scenes  through 


*  Las  Casas,  Jib.  sup.  II.  cap.  9Q» 


250 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


which  they  had  passed.  They  bathed  and  sported  in  tne  waters 
of  Yagui,  enjoying  the  amenity  of  the  surrounding  landscape, 
and  the  delightful  breezes  which  prevail  in  that  genial  season. 

‘  ‘  For  though  there  is  but  little  difference,  ”  observes  Las  Casas, 
“from  one  month  to  another  in  all  the  year  in  this  island,  and 
in  most  parts  of  these  Indias,  yet  in  the  period  from  September 
to  May,  it  is  like  living  in  paradise.  ”  * 

On  the  following  morning  they  crossed  this  stream  by  the  aid 
of  canoes  and  rafts,  swimming  the  horses  over.  For  two  days 
they  continued  their  march  through  the  same  kind  of  rich  level 
country,  diversified  by  noble  forests  and  watered  by  abundant 
streams,  several  of  which  descended  from  the  mountains  of 
Cibao,  and  were  said  to  bring  down  gold  dust  mingled  with 
their  sands.  To  one  of  these,  the  limpid  waters  of  which  ran 
over  a  bed  Qf  smooth  round  pebbles,  Columbus  gave  the  name 
of  Rio  Yerde,  or  Green  River,  from  the  verdure  and  freshness 
of  its  banks.  Its  Indian  name  was  Nicayagua,  which  it  still 
retains.!  In  the  course  of  this  march  they  passed  through  nu¬ 
merous  villages,  where  they  experienced  generally  the  same 
reception.  The  inhabitants  fled  at  their  approach,  putting  up 
their  slight  barricadoes  of  reeds,  but,  as  before,  they  were  easily 
won  to  familiarity,  and  tasked  their  limited  means  to  entertain 
the  strangers. 

Thus  penetrating  into  the  midst  of  this  great  island,  where 
every  scene  presented  the  wild  luxuriance  of  beautiful  but  un¬ 
civilized  nature,  they  arrived  on  the  evening  of  the  second  day 
at  a  chain  of  lofty  and  rugged  mountains,  forming  a  kind  of 
barrier  to  the  Vega.  These  Columbus  was  told  were  the  golden 
mountains  of  Cibao,  whose  region  commenced  at  their  rocky 
summits.  The  country  now  beginning  to  grow  rough  and  diffi¬ 
cult,  and  the  people  being  wayworn,  they  encamped  for  the 
night  at  the  foot  of  a.  steep  defile,  which  led  up  into  the  moun¬ 
tains.  and  pioneers  were  sent  in  advance  to  open  a  road  for  the 
army.  From  this  place  they  sent  back  mules  for  a  supply  of 
bread  and  wine,  their  provisions  beginning  to  grow  scanty,  for 
they  had  not  as  yet  accustomed  themselves  to  the  food  of  the 
natives,  which  was  afterward  found  to  be  of  that  light  digestible 
kind  suitable  to  the  climate. 

On  the  next  morning  they  resumed  their  march  up  a  narrow 


*  Las  Casas,  Hist.  Ind.,  lib.  i.  cap.  90,  ms. 

t  The  Dame  of  Rio  Verde  was  afterward  given  to  a  small  stream  which  crosses  the 
road  from  Santiago  to  La  Vega,  •„  branch  of  the  River  Yuna. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS 


251 


and  steep  glen,  winding  among  craggy  rocks,  where  they  were 
obliged  to  lead  the  horses.  Arrived  at  the  summit,  they  once 
more  enjoyed  a  prospect  of  the  delicious  Vega,  which  here  pre¬ 
sented  a  still  grander  appearance,  stretching  far  and  wide  on 
either  hand,  like  a  vast  verdant  lake.  This  noble  plain,  accord¬ 
ing  to  Las  Casas,  is  eighty  leagues  in  length,  and  from  twenty 
to  thirty  in  breadth,  and  of  incomparable  beauty. 

They  now  entered  Cibao,  the  famous  region  of  gold,  which, 
as  if  nature  delighted  in  contrarieties,  displayed  a  miser-like 
poverty  of  exterior,  in  proportion  to  its  hidden  treasures.  In¬ 
stead  of  the  soft  luxuriant  landscape  of  the  Vega,  they  beheld 
chains  of  rocky  and  sterile  mountains,  scantily  clothed  with 
lofty  pines.  The  trees  in  the  valleys  also,  instead  of  possessing 
the  rich  tufted  foliage  common  to  other  parts  of  the  island, 
were  meagre  and  dwarfish,  excepting  such  as  grew  on  the  hanks 
of  streams.  The  very  name  of  the  country  bespoke  the  nature 
of  the  soil — Cibao,  in  the  language  of  the  natives,  signifying  a 
stone.  Still,  however,  there  were  deep  glens  and  shady  ravines 
among  the  mountains,  watered  by  limpid  rivulets,  where  the 
green  herbage  and  strips  of  woodland  were  the  more  delightful 
to  the  eye  from  the  neighboring  sterility.  But  what  consoled 
the  Spaniards  for  the  asperity  of  the  soil,  was  to  observe  among 
the  sands  of  those  crystal  streams  glittering  particles  o {  gold, 
which,  though  scanty  in  quantity,  were  regarded  as  earnests  of 
the  wealth  locked  up  within  the  mountains. 

The  natives  having  been  previously  visited  by  the  exploring 
party  under  Ojeda,  came  forth  to  meet  them  with  great  alacrity, 
bringing  food,  and,  above  all,  grains  and  particles  of  gold  col¬ 
lected  in  the  brooks  and  torrents.  From  the  quantities  of  gold 
dust  in  every  stream,  Columbus  was  convinced  there  must  be 
several  mines  in  the  vicinity.  He  had  met  with  specimens  of 
amber  and  lapis  lazuli,  though  in  very  small  quantities,  and 
thought  that  he  had  discovered  a  mine  of  copper.  He  was  now 
about  eighteen  leagues  from  the  settlement ;  the  rugged  nature 
of  the  mountains  made  communication,  even  from  this  dis¬ 
tance,  laborious.  He  gave  up  the  idea,  therefore,  of  penetrat¬ 
ing  farther  into  the  country,  and  determined  to  establish  a 
fortified  post  in  this  neighborhood,  with  a  large  number  of 
men,  as  well  to  work  the  mines  as  to  explore  the  rest  of  the 
province.  He  accordingly  selected  a  pleasant  situation  on  an 
eminence  almost  entirely  surrounded  by  a  small  river  called 
the  Yanique,  the  waters  of  which  were  as  pure  as  if  distilled, 
and  the  sound  of  its  current  musical  to  the  ear.  In  its  bed  were 


252 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


found  curious  stones  of  various  colors,  large  masses  of  beautiful 
marble,  and  pieces  of  pure  jasper.  From  the  foot  of  the  height 
extended  one  of  those  graceful  and  verdant  plains,  called  savan¬ 
nas,  which  was  freshened  and  fertilized  by  the  river.* 

On  this  eminence  Columbus  ordered  a  strong  fortress  of  wood 
to  be  erected,  capable  of  defence  against  any  attack  of  the 
natives,  and  protected  by  a  deep  ditch  on  the  side  which  the 
river  did  not  secure.  To  this  fortress  he  gave  the  name  of  St. 
Thomas,  intended  as  a  pleasant,  though  pious,  reproof  of  the 
incredulity  of  Firmin  Cedo  and  his  doubting  adherents,  who 
obstinately  refused  to  believe  that  the  island,  produced  gold, 
until  they  beheld  it  with  their  eyes  and  touched  it  with  their 
hands,  f 

The  natives,  having  heard  of  the  arrival  of  the  Spaniards  in 
their  vicinity,  came  flocking  from  various  parts,  anxious  to 
obtain  European  trinkets.  The  admiral  signified  to  them  that 


*  Las  Casas,  Hist.  Ind.,  lib.  i.  cap.  90,  ms. 

+  Ibid. 

From  the  Letter  of  T.  S.  Heneken,  Esq.,  1847. 

Traces  of  the  old  fortress  of  St.  Thomas  still  exist,  though,  as  has  happened  to 
the  Puerta  de  los  Hidalgos,  all  tradition  concerning  it  has  long  been  lost. 

Having  visited  a  small  Spanish  village  known  by  the  name  of  Hanique,  situated 
on  the  banks  of  that  stream,  I  heard  by  accident  the  name  of  a  farm  at  no  great 
distance,  called  La  Fortaleza.  This  excited  my  curiosity,  and  I  proceeded  to  the 
spot,  a  short  distance  up  the  river;  yet  nothing  could  be  learned  from  the  inhabi¬ 
tants;  it  was  only  by  ranging  the  river’s  banks,  through  a  dense  and  luxuriant  for¬ 
est,  that  I  by  accident  stumbled  upon  the  site  of  the  fortress. 

The  remarkable  turn  in  the  river;  the  ditch,  still  very  perfect;  the  entrance  and, 
the  covert  ways  on  each  side  for  descending  to  the  river,  with  a  fine  esplanade  of 
beautiful  short  grass  in  front,  complete  the  picture  described  by  Las  Casas. 

The  square  occupied  by  the  fort  is  now  completely  covered  with  forest  trees,  un- 
distinguishable  from  those  of  the  surrounding  country;  which  corresponds  to  this 
aay  exactly  with  the  description  given  above,  three  oenturies  since,  by  Columbus, 
Ojeda,  and  Juan  de  Luxan. 

The  only  change  to  notice  is,  that  the  neat  little  Indian  villages,  swarming  with 
an  innooent  and  happy  population,  have  totally  disappeared;  there  being  at  present 
only  a  few  scattered  huts  of  indigent  Spaniards  to  be  met  with,  buried  in  the  gloom 
of  the  mountains, 

The  traces  of  those  villages  are  rarely  to  be  discovered  at  the  present  day.  The 
situation  of  one  near  Ponton  was  well  chosen  for  defence,  being  built  on  a  high 
bank  between  deep  and  precipitous  ravines.  A  large  square  occupied  the  centre; 
in  the  rear  of  each  dwelling  were  thrown  the  sweepings  of  the  apartments  and  the 
ashes  from  the  fires,  which  form  a  line  of  mounds,  mixed  up  with  broken  Indian 
utensils.  As  it  lies  in  the  direct  road  from  Isabella,  Cibao,  and  La  Vega,  and  com' 
mands  the  best  fording  place  in  the  neighborhood  for  crossing  the  River  Yaqui  in 
dry  seasons,  it  must,  no  doubt,  have  been  a  place  of  considerable  resort  at  the  time 
of  the  discovery — most  likely  a  pontoon  or  large  canoe  was  stationed  here  for  the 
facility  of  communication  between  St,  Thomas  and  Isabella,  whence  it  derived  its 
name. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


253 


anything  would  be  given  in  exchange  for  gold ;  upon  hearing 
this  some  of  them  ran  to  a  neighboring  river,  and  gathering 
and  sifting  its  sands,  returned  in  a  little  while  with  considera¬ 
ble  quantities  of  gold  dust.  One  old  man  brought  two  pieces 
of  virgin  ore,  weighing  an  ounce,  and  thought  himself  richly 
repaid  when  he  received  a  hawk’s  bell.  On  remarking  that  the 
admiral  was  struck  with  the  size  of  these  specimens,  he  affected 
to  treat  them  with  contempt,  as  insignificant,  intimating  by 
signs  that  in  his  country,  which  lay  within  half  a  day’s  journey, 
they  found  pieces  of  gold  as  big  as  an  orange.  Other  Indians 
brought  grains  of  gold  weighing  ten  and  twelve  drachms,  and 
declared  that  in  the  country  whence  they  got  them,  there  were 
masses  of  ore  as  large  as  the  head  of  a  child.*  As  usual,  how¬ 
ever,  these  golden  tracts  were  always  in  some  remote  valley,  or 
along  some  rugged  and  sequestered  stream ;  and  the  wealthiest 
spot  was  sure  to  be  at  the  greatest  distance — for  the  land  of 
promise  is  ever  beyond  the  mountain. 


CHAPTER  X. 

EXCURSION  OF  JUAN  DE  LUXAN  AMONG  THE  MOUNTAINS— CUSTOMS 
AND  CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  NATIVES— COLUMBUS  RETURNS 
TO  ISABELLA. 

[1494.] 

While  the  admiral  remained  among  the  mountains,  superin¬ 
tending  the  building  of  the  fortress,  he  dispatched  a  young 
cavalier  of  Madrid,  named  Juan  de  Luxan,  with  a  small  band 
of  armed  men,  to  range  about  the  country,  and  explore  the 
whole  of  the  province,  which,  from  the  reports  of  the  Indians, 
appeared  to  be  equal  in  extent  to  the  kingdom  of  Portugal. 
Luxan  returned,  after  a  few  days’  absence,  with  the  most  satis¬ 
factory  accounts.  He  had  traversed  a  great  part  of  Cibao, 
which  he  found  more  capable  of  cultivation  than  had  at  first 
been  imagined.  It  was  generally  mountainous,  and  the  soil 
covered  with  large  round  pebbles  of  a  blue  color,  yet  there  was 
good  pasturage  in  many  of  the  valleys.  The  mountains,  also, 


♦  Peter  Martyr,  decad.  i.  lib.  iii. 


254 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


being  watered  by  frequent  showers,  produced  grass  of  surpris¬ 
ingly  quick  and  luxuriant  growth,  often  reaching  to  the  saddles 
of  the  horses.  The  forests  seemed  to  Luxan  to  be  full  of  valu¬ 
able  spices ;  he  being  deceived  by  the  odors  emitted  by  those 
aromatic  plants  and  herhs  which  abound  in  the  woodlands  of 
the  tropics.  There  were  great  vines  also,  climbing  to  the  very 
summits  of  the  trees,  and  bearing  clusters  of  grapes  entirely 
ripe,  full  of  juice,  and  of  a  pleasant  flavor.  Every  valley  and 
glen  possessed  its  stream,  large  or  small,  according  to  the  size 
of  the  neighboring  mountain,  and  all  yielding  more  or  less 
gold,  in  small  particles.  Luxan  was  supposed,  likewise,  to 
have  learned  from  the  Indians  many  of  the  secrets  of  their 
mountains ;  to  have  been  shown  the  parts  where  the  greatest 
quantity  of  ore  was  found,  and  to  have  been  taken  to  the  rich¬ 
est  streams.  On  all  these  points,  however,  he  observed  a  dis¬ 
creet  mystery,  communicating  the  particulars  to  no  one  but 
the  admiral.* 

The  fortress  of  St.  Thomas  being  nearly  completed,  Columbus 
gave  it  in  command  to  Pedro  Margarite,  the  same  cavalier 
whom  he  had  recommended  to  the  favor  of  the  sovereigns ;  and 
he  left  with  him  a  garrison  of  fifty-six  men.  He  then  set  out 
on  his  return  to  Isabella.  On  arriving  at  the  banks  of  the  Rio 
Verde,  or  Nicayagua,  in  the  Royal  Vega,  he  found  a  number 
of  Spaniards  on  their  way  to  the  fortress  with  supplies.  He 
remained,  therefore,  a  few  days  in  the  neighborhood,  searching 
for  the  best  fording  place  of  the  river,  and  establishing  a  route 
between  the  fortress  and  the  harbor.  During  this  time  he 
resided  in  the  Indian  villages,  endeavoring  to  accustom  his 
people  to  the  food  of  the  natives,  as  well  as  to  inspire  the  latter 
with  a  mingled  feeling  of  good  will  and  reverence  for  the  white 
men. 

From  the  report  of  Luxan,  Columbus  had  derived  some  in¬ 
formation  concerning  the  character  and  customs  of  the  natives, 
and  he  acquired  still  more  from  his  own  observations,  in  the 
course  of  his  sojourn  among  the  tribes  of  the  mountains  and 
the  plains.  And  here  a  brief  notice  of  a  few  of  the  charac¬ 
teristics  and  customs  of  these  people  maybe  interesting.  They 
are  given,  not  merely  as  observed  by  the  admiral  and  his  offi¬ 
cers  during  this  expedition,  but  as  recorded  some  time  after¬ 
ward,  in  a  crude  dissertation,  by  a  friar  of  the  name  of  Roman ; 


*  Peter  Martyr,  decad.  i.  lib.  iii 


LIFE  OF  CnniSTOPIIEll  COLUMBUS. 


255 


a  poor  hermit,  as  he  styled  himself,  of  the  order  of  the  Ieroni- 
mites,  who  was  one  of  the  colleagues  of  Father  Boyle,  and  re¬ 
sided  for  some  time  in  the  Vega  as  a  missionary. 

Columbus  had  already  discovered  the  error  of  one  of  his 
opinions  concerning  these  islanders,  formed  during  his  first 
voyage.  They  were  not  so  entirely  pacific,  nor  so  ignorant  of 
warlike  arts,  as  he  had  imagined.  He  had  been  deceived  by  the 
enthusiasm  of  his  own  feelings,  and  by  the  gentleness  of  Gua- 
canagari  and  his  subjects.  The  casual  descents  of  the  Caribs 
had  compelled  the  inhabitants  of  the  sea-shore  to  acquaint 
themselves  with  the  use  of  arms.  Some  of  the  mountain  tribes 
near  the  coast,  particularly  those  on  the  side  which  looked 
toward  the  Caribbee  Islands,  were  of  a  more  hardy  and  war¬ 
like  character  than  those  of  the  plains.  Caonabo,  also,  the 
Carib  chieftain,  had  introduced  something  of  his  own  warrior 
spirit  into  the  centre  of  the  island.  Yet,  generally  speaking, 
the  habits  of  the  people  were  mild  and  gentle.  If  wars  some¬ 
times  occurred  among  them,  they  were  of  short  duration,  and 
unaccompanied  by  any  great  effusion  of  blood ;  and,  in  general, 
they  mingled  amicably  and  hospitably  with  each  other. 

Columbus  had  also  at  first  indulged  in  the  error  that  the 
natives  of  Hayti  were  destitute  of  all  notions  of  religion,  and 
he  had  consequently  flattered  himself  that  it  would  be  the 
easier  to  introduce  into  their  minds  the  doctrines  of  Christi¬ 
anity  ;  not  aware  that  it  is  more  difficult  to  light  up  the  fire  of 
devotion  in  the  cold  heart  of  an  atheist,  than  to  direct  the 
flame  to  a  new  object,  when  it  is  already  enkindled.  There  are 
few  beings,  however,  so  destitute  of  reflection  as  not  to  be  im¬ 
pressed  with  the  conviction  of  an  overruling  deity.  A  nation 
of  atheists  never  existed.  It  was  soon  discovered  that  these 
islanders  had  their  creed,  though  of  a  vague  and  simple  nature. 
They  believed  in  one  supreme  being,  inhabiting  the  sky,  who 
was  immortal,  omnipotent,  and  invisible;  to  whom  they  as¬ 
cribed  an  origin,  who  had  a  mother,  but  no  father.*  They 
never  addressed  their  worship  directly  to  him,  but  employed 
inferior  deities,  called  Zemes,  as  messengers  and  mediators. 
Each  cacique  had  his  tutelar  deity  of  his  order,  whom  he  in¬ 
voked  and  pretended  to  consult  in  all  his  public  undertakings, 
and  who  was  reverenced  by  his  people.  He  had  a  house  apart, 
as  a  temple  to  this  deity,  in  which  was  an  image  of  his  Zemi 


*  Escritura  de  Fr.  Roman.  Hist,  del  Almirante. 

K 


256 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


carved  of  wood  or  stone,  or  shaped  of  clay  or  cotton,  and  gen* 
erally  of  some  monstrous  and  hideous  form.  Each  family  and 
each  individual  had  likewise  a  particular  Zemi,  or  protecting 
genius,  like  the  Lares  and  Penates  of  the  ancients.  They  were 
placed  in  every  part  of  their  houses,  or  carved  on  their  furni¬ 
ture;  some  had  them  of  a  small  size,  and  bound  them  about 
their  foreheads  when  they  went  to  battle.  They  believed  their 
Zemes  to  be  transferable,  with  all  their  powers,  and  often  stole 
them  from  each  other.  When  the  Spaniards  came  among 
them,  they  often  hid  their  idols,  lest  they  should  be  taken 
away.  They  believed  that  these  Zemes  presided  over  every 
object  in  nature,  each  having  a  particular  charge  or  govern¬ 
ment.  They  influenced  the  seasons  and  the  elements,  causing 
sterile  or  abundant  years ;  exciting  hurricanes  and  whirlwinds, 
and  tempests  of  rain  and  thunder,  or  sending  sweet  and  tem¬ 
perate  breezes  and  fruitful  showers.  They  governed  the  seas 
and  forests,  the  springs  and  fountains;  like  the  Nereids,  the 
Dryads,  and  Satyrs  of  antiquity.  They  gave  success  in  hunt¬ 
ing  and  fishing ;  they  guided  the  waters  of  the  mountains  into 
safe  channels,  and  led  them  down  to  wander  through  the 
plains,  in  gentle  brooks  and  peaceful  rivers;  or,  if  incensed, 
they  caused  them  to  burst  forth  into  rushing  torrents  and  over¬ 
whelming  floods,  inundating  and  laying  waste  the  valleys. 

The  natives  had  their  Butios,  or  priests,  who  pretended  to 
hold  communion  with  these  Zemes.  They  practised  rigorous 
fasts  and  ablutions,  and  inhaled  the  powder,  or  drank  the  in¬ 
fusion,  of  a  certain  herb,  which  produced  a  temporary  intoxi¬ 
cation  or  delirium.  In  the  course  of  this  process,  they  pro¬ 
fessed  to  have  trances  and  visions,  and  that  the  Zemes  revealed 
to  them  future  events,  or  instructed  them  in  the  treatment  of 
maladies.  They  were,  in  general,  great  herbalists,  and  well  ac¬ 
quainted  with  the  medicinal  properties  of  trees  and  vegetables. 
They  cured  diseases  through  their  knowledge  of  simples,  but 
always  with  many  mysterious  rites  and  ceremonies,  and  sup¬ 
posed  charms ;  chanting  and  burning  a  light  in  the  chamber  of 
the  patient,  and  pretending  to  exorcise  the  malady,  to  expel  it 
from  the  mansion,  and  to  send  it  to  the  sea  or  to  the  moun¬ 
tain.* 

Their  bodies  were  painted  or  tattooed  with  figures  of  the 
Zemes,  which  were  regarded  with  horror  by  the  Spaniards,  as 


*  Oviedo,  Cronic.,  lib.  v.  cap.  1. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


25pi 


bo  many  representations  of  tlie  devil ;  and  the  Butios,  esteemed 
as  saints  by  the  natives,  were  abhorred  by  the  former  as  necro¬ 
mancers.  These  Butios  often  assisted  the  caciques  in  practis¬ 
ing  deceptions  upon  their  subjects,  speaking  oracularly  through 
the  Zemes,  by  means  of  hollow  tubes ;  inspiriting  the  Indians 
to  battle  by  predicting  success,  or  dealing  forth  such  promises 
or  menaces  as  might  suit  the  purposes  of  the  chieftain. 

There  is  but  one  of  their  solemn  religious  ceremonies  of  which 
any  record  exists.  The  cacique  proclaimed  a  day  when  a  kind 
of  festival  was  to  be  held  in  honor  of  his  Zemes.  His  subjects 
assembled  from  all  parts,  and  formed  a  solemn  procession ;  the 
married  men  and  women  decorated  with  their  most  precious 
ornaments,  the  young  females  entirely  naked.  The  cacique, 
or  the  principal  personage,  marched  at  their  head,  beating  a 
kind  of  drum.  In  this  way  they  proceeded  to  the  consecrated 
house  or  temple,  in  which  were  set  up  the  images  of  the  Zemes. 
Arrived  at  the  door,  the  cacique  seated  himself  on  the  outside, 
continuing  to  beat  his  drum  while  the  procession  entered,  the 
females  carrying  baskets  of  cakes  ornamented  with  flowers, 
and  singing  as  they  advanced.  These  offerings  were  received 
by  the  Butios  with  loud  cries,  or  rather  howlings.  They  broke 
the  cakes,  after  they  had  been  offered  to  the  Zemes,  and  distri¬ 
buted  the  portions  to  the  heads  of  families,  who  preserved 
them  carefully  throughout  the  year,  as  preventive  of  all  ad¬ 
verse  accidents.  This  done,  the  females  danced,  at  a  given 
signal,  singing  songs  in  honor  of  the  Zemes,  or  in  praise  of  the 
heroic  actions  of  their  ancient  caciques.  The  whole  ceremony 
finished  by  invoking  the  Zemes  to  watch  over  and  protect  the 
nation.* 

Besides  the  Zemes,  each  cacique  had  three  idols  or  talismans, 
which  were  mere  stones,  out  which  were  held  in  great  rever¬ 
ence  by  themselves  and  their  subjects.  One  they  supposed 
had  the  power  to  produce  abundant  harvests,  another  to  re¬ 
move  all  pain  from  women  in  travail,  and  the  third  to  call 
forth  rain  or  sunshine.  Three  of  these  were  sent  home  by  Co¬ 
lumbus  to  the  sovereigns.! 

The  ideas  of  the  natives  with  respect  to  the  creation  were 
vague  and  undefined.  They  gave  their  own  island  of  Hayti 
priority  of  existence  over  all  others,  and  believed  that  the  sun 


*  Charlevoix.  Hist.  St.  Domingo,  lib.  i.  p.  56. 
t  Hist,  del  Almirante,  o&p.  61. 


258 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


and  moon  originally  issued  out  of  a  cavern  in  the  island  to  give 
light  to  the  world.  This  cavern  still  exists,  about  seven  or  eight 
leagues  from  Cape  Frangais,  now  Cape  Haytien,  and  is  known 
by  the  name  of  La  Voute  a  Minguet.  It  is  about  one  hundred 
and  fifty  feet  in  depth,  and  nearly  the  same  in  height,  but  very 
narrow.  It  receives  no  light  but  from  the  entrance,  and  from 
a  round  hole  in  the  roof,  whence  it  was  said  the  sun  and  moon 
issued  forth  to  take  their  places  in  the  sky.  The  vault  was  so 
fair  and  regular,  that  it  appeared  a  work  of  art  rather  than  of 
nature.  In  the  time  of  Charlevoix  the  figures  of  various  Zemes 
were  still  to  be  seen  cut  in  the  rocks,  and  there  were  the  re¬ 
mains  of  niches,  as  if  to  receive  statues.  This  cavern  was  held 
in  great  veneration.  It  was  painted,  and  adorned  with  green 
branches,  and  other  simple  decorations.  There  were  in  it  two 
images  or  Zemes.  When  there  was  a  want  of  rain,  the  natives 
made  pilgrimage  and  processions  to  it,  with  songs  and  dances, 
bearing  offerings  of  fruits  and  flowers.* 

They  believed  that  mankind  issued  from  another  cavern,  the 
large  men  from  a  great  aperture,  the  small  men  from  a  little 
cranny.  They  were  for  a  long  time  destitute  of  women,  but 
wandering  on  one  occasion  near  a  small  lake,  they  saw  certain 
animals  among  the  branches  of  the  trees,  which  proved  to  be 
women.  On  attempting  to  catch  them,  however,  they  were 
found  to  be  as  slippery  as  eels,  so  that  it  was  impossible  to  hold 
them.  At  length  they  employed  certain  men,  whose  hands 
were  rendered  rough  by  a  kind  of  leprosy.  These  succeeded  in 
securing  four  of  these  slippery  females,  from  whom  the  world 
was  peopled. 

While  the  men  inhabited  this  cavern,  they  dared  only  ven¬ 
ture  forth  at  night,  for  the  sight  of  the  sun  was  fatal  to  them, 
turning  them  into  trees  and  stones.  A  cacique,  named  Vago- 
niona,  sent  one  of  his  men  forth  from  the  cave  to  fish,  who 
lingering  at  his  sport  until  the  sun  had  risen,  was  turned  into 
a  bird  of  melodious  note,  the  same  which  Columbus  mistook 
for  the  nightingale.  They  added,  that  yearly  about  the  time  he 
had  suffered  this  transformation,  he  came  in  the  night  with  a 
mournful  song,  bewailing  his  misfortune ;  which  was  the  cause 
why  that  bird  always  sang  in  the  night  season,  f 

Like  most  savage  nations,  they  had  a  tradition  concerning 
the  universal  deluge,  equally  fanciful  with  most  of  the  preced- 


*  Charlevoix,  Hist.  St.  Domingo,  lib.  i.  p.  60. 
t  Fray  Roman.  Hist,  del  Almirante.  P.  Martyr,  decad.  i.  lib.  ix. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


259 


ing;  for  it  is  singular  how  the  human  mind,  in  its  natural  state, 
is  apt  to  account,  by  trivial  and  familiar  causes,  for  great 
events.  They  said  that  there  once  lived  in  the  island  a  mighty 
cacique,  who  slew  his  only  son  for  conspiring  against  him.  He 
afterward  collected  and  picked  his  bones,  and  preserved  them 
in  a  gourd,  as  was  the  custom  of  the  natives  with  the  relics  of 
their  friends.  On  a  subsequent  day,  the  cacique  and  his  wife 
opened  the  gourd  to  contemplate  the  hones  of  their  son,  when, 
to  their  astonishment,  several  fish,  great  and  small,  leaped  out. 
Upon  this  the  cacique  closed  the  gourd,  and  placed  it  on  the  top 
of  his  house,  boasting  that  he  had  the  sea  shut  up  within  it,  and 
could  have  fish  whenever  he  pleased.  Four  brothers,  however, 
who  had  been  born  at  the  same  birth,  and  were  curious  inter 
meddlers,  hearing  of  this  gourd,  came  during  the  absence  of 
the  cacique  to  peep  into  it.  In  their  carelessness  they  suffered 
it  to  fall  upon  the  ground,  where  it  was  dashed  to  pieces ;  when, 
lo!  to  their  astonishment  and  dismay,  there  issued  forth  a 
mighty  flood,  with  dolphins,  and  sharks,  and  tumbling  por¬ 
poises,  and  great  spouting  whales ;  and  the  water  spread,  until 
it  overflowed  the  earth,  and  formed  the  ocean,  leaving  only  the 
tops  of  the  mountains  uncovered,  which  are  the  present 
islands.* 

They  had  singular  modes  of  treating  the  dying  and  the  dead. 
When  the  life  of  a  cacique  was  despaired  of,  they  strangled 
him  out  of  a  principle  of  respect,  rather  than  suffer  him  to  die 
like  the  vulgar.  Common  people  were  extended  in  their  ham¬ 
mocks,  bread  and  water  placed  at  their  head,  and  they  were 
then  abandoned  to  die  in  solitude.  Sometimes  they  were  car¬ 
ried  to  the  cacique,  and  if  he  permitted  them  the  distinction, 
they  were  strangled.  After  death  the  body  of  a  cacique  was 
opened,  dried  at  a  fire,  and  preserved ;  of  others  the  head  only 
was  treasured  up  as  a  memorial,  or  occasionally  a  limb.  Some¬ 
times  the  whole  body  was  interred  in  a  cave,  with  a  calabash 
of  water  and  a  loaf  of  bread ;  sometimes  it  was  consumed  with 
fire  in  the  house  of  the  deceased. 

They  had  confused  and  uncertain  notions  of  the  existence  of 
the  soul  when  separated  from  the  body.  They  believed  in  the 
apparitions  of  the  departed  at  night,  or  by  daylight  in  solitary 
places,  to  lonely  individuals ;  sometimes  advancing  as  if  to  at¬ 
tack  them,  but  upon  the  traveller’s  striking  at  them  they  van¬ 
ished,  and  he  struck  merely  against  trees  or  rocks.  Sometimes 


*  Escritura  de  Fray  Roman,  pobre  Heremito. 


260 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


tlicy  mingled  among  the  living,  and  were  only  to  he  known  by 
having  no  navels.  The  Indians,  fearful  of  meeting  with  those 
apparitions,  disliked  to  go  about  alone,  and  in  the  dark. 

They  had  an  idea  of  a  place  of  reward,  to  which  the  spirits  of 
good  men  repaired  after  death,  wdiere  they  were  reunited  to  the 
spirits  of  those  they  had  most  loved  during  life,  and  to  all  their 
ancestors.  Here  they  enjoyed  uninterruptedly,  and  in  perfeo- 
tion,  those  pleasures  which  constituted  their  felicity  on  earth. 
They  lived  in  shady  and  blooming  bowers,  with  beautiful  wo¬ 
men,  and  banqueted  on  delicious  fruits.  The  paradise  of  these 
happy  spirits  was  variously  placed,  almost  every  tribe  assign¬ 
ing  some  favorite  spot  in  their  native  province.  Many,  how¬ 
ever,  concurred  in  describing  this  region  as  being  near  a  lake 
in  the  western  part  of  the  island,  in  the  beautiful  province  of 
Xaragua.  Here  there  were  delightful  valleys,  covered  with  a 
delicate  fruit  called  the  mamey,  about  the  size  of  an  apricot. 
They  imagined  that  the  souls  of  the  deceased  remained  con¬ 
cealed  among  the  airy  and  inaccessible  cliffs  of  the  mountains 
during  the  day,  but  descended  at  night  into  these  happy  valleys, 
to  regale  on  this  consecrated  fruit.  The  living  were  sparing, 
therefore,  in  eating  it,  lest  the  souls  of  their  friends  should  suf¬ 
fer  from  want  of  their  favorite  nourishment.  * 

The  dances  to  which  the  natives  seemed  so  immoderately 
addicted,  and  which  had  been  at  first  considered  by  the  Span¬ 
iards  mere  idle  pastimes,  were  found  to  be  often  ceremonials 
of  a  serious  and  mystic  character.  They  form  indeed  a  singu¬ 
lar  and  important  feature  throughout  the  customs  of  the  aborig¬ 
inals  of  the  New  World.  In  these  are  typified,  by  signs  well 
understood  by  the  initiated,  and,  as  it  were,  by  hieroglyphic 
action,  their  historical  events,  their  projected  enterprises,  their 
hunting,  their  ambuscades,  and  their  battles,  resembling  in 
some  respects  the  Pyrrhic  dances  of  the  ancients.  Speaking  of 
the  prevalence  of  these  dances  among  the  natives  of  Hayti, 
Peter  Martyr  observes  that  they  performed  them  to  the  chant 
of  certain  metres  and  ballads,  handed  down  from  generation  to 
generation,  in  which  were  rehearsed  the  deeds  of  their  ances¬ 
tors.  “  These  rhymes  or  ballads,”  he  adds,  “  they  call  areytos; 
and  as  our  minstrels  are  accustomed  to  sing  to  the  harp  and 
lute,  so  do  they  in  like  maimer  sing  these  songs,  and  dance  to 
the  same,  playing  on  timbrels  made  of  shells  of  certain  fishes. 


*  Tlist.  del  Almirante,  cap.  61.  Peter  Martyr,  decad.  i.  lib.  ix.  Charlevoix,  Hist 
St.  Domingo,  lib.  i. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS .  26\ 

These  timbrels  they  call  maguey.  They  have  also  songs  and 
ballads  of  love,  and  others  of  lamentation  or  mourning ;  some 
also  to  encourage  them  to  the  wars,  all  sung  to  tunes  agreeable 
to  the  matter.”  It  was  for  these  dances,  as  has  been  already 
observed,  that  they  were  so  eager  to  procure  hawks’  bells,  sus¬ 
pending  them  about  their  persons,  and  keeping  time  with  their 
sound  to  the  cadence  of  the  singers.  This  mode  of  dancing  to 
a  ballad  has  been  compared  to  the  dances  of  the  peasants  in 
Flanders  during  the  summer,  and  to  those  prevalent  through¬ 
out  Spain  to  the  sound  of  the  castanets,  and  the  wild  popular 
chants  said  to  be  derived  from  the  Moors ;  but  which,  in  fact, 
existed  before  their  invasion  among  the  Goths  who  overran  the 
peninsula.* 

The  earliest  history  of  almost  all  nations  has  generally  been 
preserved  by  rude  heroic  rhymes  and  ballads,  and  by  the 
lays  of  the  minstrels ;  and  such  was  the  case  with  the  areytos 
of  the  Indians.  “  When  a  cacique  died,”  says  Oviedo,  “they 
sang  in  dirges  his  life  and  actions,  and  all  the  good  that  he  had 
done  was  recollected.  Thus  they  formed  the  ballads  or  areytos 
which  constituted  their  history.”!  Some  of  these  ballads  were 
of  a  sacred  character,  containing  their  traditional  notions  of 
theology,  and  the  superstitions  and  fables  which  comprised 
their  religious  creeds.  None  were  permitted  to  sing  these  but 
the  sons  of  caciques,  who  were  instructed  in  them  by  their 
Butios.  They  were  chanted  before  the  people  on  solemn  festi¬ 
vals,  like  those  already  described,  accompanied  by  the  sound 
of  a  kind  of  drum,  made  from  a  hollow  tree.  % 

Such  are  a  few  of  the  characteristics  remaining  on  record  of 
these  simple  people,  who  perished  from  the  face  of  the  earth 
before  their  customs  and  creeds  were  thought  of  sufficient  im¬ 
portance  to  be  investigated.  The  present  work  does  not  profess 
to  enter  into  detailed  accounts  of  the  countries  and  people  dis¬ 
covered  by  Columbus,  otherwise  than  as  they  may  be  useful 
for  the  illustration  of  his  history ;  and  perhaps  the  foregoing 
are  carried  to  an  unnecessary  length,  but  they  may  serve  to 
give  greater  interest  to  the  subsequent  transactions  of  the 
island. 

Many  of  these  particulars,  as  has  been  observed,  were  col- 


*  Mariana,  Hist.  Esp.,  lib.  v.  cap.  1. 
t  Oviedo.  Cron,  de  las  Indias,  lib.  v.  cap.  3. 

$  Fray  Roman.  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  61.  P.  Martyr,  de<  <.  i.  lib.  ix.  Her 
rer a,  Hist.  Ind.,  decad.  i.  lib.  iii.  cap.  4.  Oviedo,  lib.  v.  cap.l. 


262 


life  of  cmusTornm  columbus. 


lected  by  the  admiral  and  his  officers,  during  their  excursion 
among  the  mountains  and  their  sojourn  in  the  plain.  The 
natives  appeared  to  them  a  singularly  idle  and  improvident 
race,  indifferent  to  most  of  the  objects  of  human  anxiety  and 
toil.  They  were  impatient  of  all  kinds  of  labor,  scarcely  giving 
themselves  the  trouble  to  cultivate  the  yuca  root,  the  maize, 
and  the  potato,  which  formed  the  main  articles  of  subsistence. 
For  the  rest,  their  streams  abounded  with  fish;  they  caught 
the  utia  or  coney,  the  guana,  and  various  birds ;  and  they  had 
a  perpetual  banquet  from  the  fruits  spontaneously  produced  by 
their  groves.  Though  the  air  was  sometimes  cold  among  the 
mountains,  yet  they  preferred  submitting  to  a  little  temporary 
suffering  rather  than  take  the  trouble  to  weave  garments  from 
the  gossampine  cotton  which  abounded  in  their  forests.  Thus 
they  loitered  away  existence  in  vacant  inactivity,  under  the 
shade  of  their  trees,  or  amusing  themselves  occasionally  with 
various  games  and  dances. 

In  fact,  they  were  destitute  of  powerful  motives  to  toil,  being 
free  from  most  of  those  wants  which  doom  mankind  in  civi¬ 
lized  fife,  or  in  less  genial  climes,  to  incessant  labor.  They  had 
no  sterile  winter  to  provide  against,  particularly  in  the  valleys 
and  the  plains,  where,  according  to  Peter  Martyr,  “the  island 
enjoyed  perpetual  spring-time,  and  was  blessed  with  continual 
summer  and  harvest.  The  trees  preserved  their  leaves  through¬ 
out  the  year,  and  the  meadows  continued  always  green.” 
“There  is  no  province,  nor  any  region,”  he  again  observes, 
“which  is  not  remarkable  for  the  majesty  of  its  mountains, 
the  fruitfulness  of  its  vales,  the  pleasantness  of  its  hills,  and 
dehghtf ul  plains,  with  abundance  of  fair  rivers  running  through 
them.  There  never  was  any  noisome  animal  found  in  it,  nor 
yet  any  ravening  four-footed  beast ;  no  lion,  nor  bear ;  no  fierce 
tigers,  nor  crafty  foxes,  nor  devouring  wolves,  but  all  things 
blessed  and  fortunate.  ”  * 

In  the  soft  region  of  the  Vega,  the  circling  seasons  brought 
each  its  store  of  fruits ;  and  while  some  were  gathered  in  full 
maturity,  others  were  ripening  on  the  boughs,  and  buds  and 
blossoms  gave  promise  of  still  future  abundance.  What  need 
was  there  of  garnering  up  and  anxiously  providing  for  coming 
days,  to  men  who  lived  in  a  perpetual  harvest?  What  need, 
too,  of  toilfully  spinning  or  laboring  at  the  loom,  where  a  genial 


*  Peter  Martyr,  decad.  iii.  lib.  ix,  translated  by  R.  Eden,  London,  I55& 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS.  263 

temperature  prevailed  throughout  the  year,  and  neither  nature 
nor  custom  prescribed  the  necessity  of  clothing? 

The  hospitality  which  characterizes  men  in  such  a  simple  and 
easy  mode  of  existence,  was  evinced  toward  Columbus  and  his 
followers  during  their  sojourn  in  the  Vega.  Wherever  they 
went  it  was  a  continual  scene  of  festivity  and  rejoicing.  The 
natives  hastened  from  all  parts,  bearing  presents,  and  laying 
the  treasures  of  their  groves,  and  streams,  and  mountains,  at 
the  feet  of  beings  whom  they  still  considered  as  descended  from 
the  skies  to  bring  blessings  to  their  island. 

Having  accomplished  the  purposes  of  his  residence  in  the 
Vega,  Columbus,  at  the  end  of  a  few  days,  took  leave  of  its 
hospitable  inhabitants,  and  resumed  his  march  for  the  harbor, 
returning  with  his  little  army  through  the  lofty  and  rugged 
gorge  of  the  mountains  called  the  Pass  of  the  Hidalgos.  As  we 
accompany  him  in  imagination  over  the  rocky  height,  whence 
the  Vega  first  broke  upon  the  eye  of  the  Europeans,  we  cannot 
help  pausing  to  cast  back  a  look  of  mingled  pity  and  admira¬ 
tion  over  this  beautiful  but  devoted  region.  The  dream  of 
natural  liberty,  of  ignorant  content,  and  loitering  idleness,  was 
as  yet  unbroken,  but  the  fiat  had  gone  forth ;  the  white  man 
had  penetrated  into  the  land ;  avarice,  and  pride,  and  ambition, 
and  pining  care,  and  sordid  labor,  and  withering  poverty,  were 
soon  to  follow,  and  the  indolent  paradise  of  the  Indian  was 
about  to  disappear  forever. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

ARRIVAL  OF  COLUMBUS  AT  ISABELLA — SICKNESS  OF  THE  CO  LOT' 

[1494.] 

On  the  29  th  of  March  Columbus  arrived  at  Isabella,  highly 
satisfied  with  his  expedition  into  the  interior.  The  appearance 
of  everything  in  the  vicinity  of  the  harbor  was  calculated  to 
increase  his  anticipations  of  prosperity.  The  plants  and  fruits 
of  the  Old  World,  which  he  was  endeavoring  to  introduce  into 
the  island,  gave  promise  of  rapid  increase.  The  orchards,  fields, 
and  gardens  were  in  a  great  state  of  forwardness.  The  seeds 
of  various  fruits  had  produced  young  plants;  the  sugar-can© 


204 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


had  prospered  exceedingly ;  a  native  vine,  trimmed  and  dressed 
with  care,  had  yielded  grapes  of  tolerable  flavor,  and  cuttings 
from  European  vines  already  began  to  form  their  clusters.  On 
the  30th  of  March  a  husbandman  brought  to  Columbus  ears  of 
wheat  which  had  been  sown  in  the  latter  part  of  January.  The 
smaller  kind  of  garden  herbs  came  to  maturity  in  sixteen  days, 
and  the  larger  kind,  such  as  melons,  gourds,  pompions,  and  cu¬ 
cumbers,  were  fit  for  the  table  within  a  month  after  the  seed 
had  been  put  into  the  ground.  The  soil,  moistened  by  brooks 
and  rivers  and  frequent  showers,  and  stimulated  by  an  ardent 
sun,  possessed  those  principles  of  quick  and  prodigal  fecundity 
which  surprise  the  stranger,  accustomed  to  less  vigorous 
climates. 

The  admiral  had  scarcely  returned  to  Isabella  when  a  mes¬ 
senger  arrived  from  Pedro  Margarite,  the  commander  at  fort 
St.  Thomas,  informing  him  that  the  Indians  of  the  vicinity  had 
manifested  unfriendly  feelings,  abandoning  their  villages  and 
shunning  all  intercourse  with  the  white  men ;  and  that  Caona- 
bo  was  assembling  his  warriors,  and  preparing  to  attack  the 
fortress.  The  fact  was,  that  the  moment  the  admiral  had  de¬ 
parted,  the  Spaniards,  no  longer  awed  by  his  presence,  had, 
as  usual,  listened  only  to  their  passions,  and  exasperated  the 
natives  by  wresting  from  them  their  gold,  and  wronging  them 
with  respect  to  their*women.  Caonabo  also  had  seen  with  impa¬ 
tience  these  detested  intruders,  planting  their  standard  in  the 
very  midst  of  his  mountains,  and  he  knew  that  he  had  nothing 
to  expect  from  them  but  vengeance. 

The  tidings  from  Margarite,  however,  caused  but  little  solici¬ 
tude  in  the  mind  of  Columbus.  From  what  he  had  seen  of  the 
Indians  in  the  interior,  he  had  no  apprehensions  from  their  hos¬ 
tility.  He  knew  their  weakness  and  their  awe  of  white  men, 
and  above  all,  he  confided  in  their  terror  of  the  horses,  which 
they  regarded  as  ferocious  beasts  of  prey,  obedient  to  the 
Spaniards,  but  ready  to  devour  their  enemies.  He  contented 
himself,  therefore,  with  sending  Margarite  a  reinforcement  of 
twenty  men,  with  a  supply  of  provisions  and  ammunition,  and 
detaching  thirty  men  to  open  a  road  between  the  fortress  and 
the  port. 

What  gave  Columbus  real  and  deep  anxiety  was  the  sick¬ 
ness,  the  discontent,  and  dejection  which  continued  to  increase 
in  the  settlement.  The  same  principles  of  heat  and  humidity 
which  gave  such  fecundity  to  the  fields  were  fatal  to  the  people. 
The  exhalations  from  undrained  marshes,  and  a  vast  continuity 


LIFE  OF  CIIBIS  TOP  HER  COLUMBUS. 


265 


of  forest,  and  the  action  of  a  burning  sun  upon  a  reeking  vege¬ 
table  soil,  produced  intermittent  fevers,  and  various  other  of 
the  maladies  so  trying  to  European  constitutions  in  the  uncul¬ 
tivated  countries  of  the  tropics.  Many  of  the  Spaniards  suf¬ 
fered  also  under  the  torments  of  a  disease  hitherto  unknown  to 
them,  the  scourge,  as  was  supposed,  of  their  licentious  inter¬ 
course  with  the  Indian  females;  but  the  origin  of  which, 
whether  American  or  European,  has  been  a  subject  of  great 
dispute.  Thus  the  greater  part  of  the  colonists  were  either  con¬ 
fined  by  positive  illness  or  reduced  to  great  debility.  Th« 
stock  of  medicines  was  soon  exhausted ;  there  was  a  lack  of 
medical  aid,  and  of  the  watchful  attendance  which  is  even  more 
important  than  medicine  to  the  sick.  Every  one  who  was 
well,  was  either  engrossed  by  the  public  labors,  or  by  his 
own  wants  or  cares ;  having  to  perform  all  menial  offices  for 
himself,  even  to  the  cooking  of  his  provisions.  The  public 
works,  therefore,  languished,  and  it  was  impossible  to  cultivate 
the  soil  in  a  sufficient  degree  to  produce  a  supply  of  the  fruits 
of  the  earth.  Provisions  began  to  fail,  much  of  the  stores 
brought  from  Europe  had  been  wasted  on  board  ship,  or  sub 
fered  to  spoil  through  carelessness,  and  much  had  perished  on 
shore  from  the  warmth  and  humidity  of  the  climate.  It 
seemed  impossible  for  the  colonists  to  accommodate  themselves 
to  the  food  of  the  natives ;  and  their  infirm  condition  required 
the  aliments  to  which  they  had  been  accustomed.  To  avert  an 
absolute  famine,  therefore,  it  was  necessary  to  put  the  people 
on  a  short  allowance,  even  of  the  damaged  and  unhealthy  pro¬ 
visions  which  remained.  This  immediately  caused  loud  and 
factious  murmurs,  in  which  many  of  those  in  office,  who  ought 
to  have  supported  Columbus  in  his  measures  for  the  common 
safety,  took  a  leading  part ;  among  those  was  Father  Boyle,  a 
priest  as  turbulent  as  he  was  crafty.  He  had  been  irritated,  it 
is  said,  by  the  rigid  impartiality  of  Columbus,  who,  in  enforc¬ 
ing  his  salutary  measures,  made  no  distinction  of  rank  or  per¬ 
sons,  and  put  the  friar  and  his  household  on  a  short  allowance 
as  well  as  the  rest  of  the  community. 

In  the  midst  of  this  general  discontent,  the  bread  began  to 
grow  scarce.  The  stock  of  flour  was  exhausted,  and  there  was 
no  mode  of  grinding  corn  but  by  the  tedious  and  toilsome  pro¬ 
cess  of  the  hand-mill.  It  became  necessary,  therefore,  to  erect 
a  mill  immediately,  and  other  works  were  required  equally 
important  to  the  welfare  of  the  settlement.  Many  of  the 
workmen,  however,  were  ill,  some  feigning  greater  sickness 


266 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


than  they  really  suffered ;  for  there  was  a  general  disinclina- 
tion  to  all  kind  of  labor  which  was  not  to  produce  immediate 
wealth.  In  this  emergency,  Columbus  put  every  healthy  per¬ 
son  in  requisition ;  and  as  the  cavaliers  and  gentlemen  of  rank 
required  food  as  well  as  the  lower  orders,  they  were  called  upon 
to  take  their  share  in  the  common  labor.  This  was  considered 
a  cruel  degradation  by  many  youthful  hidalgos  of  high  blood 
and  haughty  spirit,  and  they  refused  to  obey  the  summons. 
Columbus,  however,  was  a  strict  disciplinarian,  and  felt  the 
importance  of  making  his  authority  respected.  He  resorted, 
therefore,  to  strong  and  compulsory  measures,  and  enforced 

their  obedience.  This  was  another  cause  of  the  deep  and  last- 

—  • 

ing  hostilities  that  sprang  up  against  him.  It  aroused  the  im¬ 
mediate  indignation  of  every  person  of  birth  and  rank  in  the 
colony,  and  drew  upon  him  the  resentment  of  several  of  the 
proud  families  of  Spain.  He  was  inveighed  against  as  an  arro¬ 
gant  and  upstart  foreigner,  who,  inflated  with  a  sudden  acqui¬ 
sition  of  power,  and  consulting  only  his  own  wealth  and  ag- 

frandizement,  was  trampling  upon  the  rights  and  dignities  of 
panish  gentlemen,  and  insulting  the  honor  of  the  nation. 
Columbus  may  have  been  too  strict  and  indiscriminate  in  his 
regulations.  There  are  cases  in  which  even  justice  may  become 
oppressive,  and  where  the  severity  of  the  law  should  be  tem¬ 
pered  with  indulgence.  What  was  mere  toilsome  labor  to  a 
common  man,  became  humiliation  and  disgrace  when  forced 
Upon  a  Spanish  cavalier.  Many  of  these  young  men  had  come 
out,  not  in  the  pursuit  of  wealth,  but  with  romantic  dreams  in¬ 
spired  by  his  own  representations ;  hoping,  no  doubt,  to  dis¬ 
tinguish  themselves  by  heroic  achievements  and  chivalrous 
adventure,  and  to  continue  in  the  Indies  the  career  of  arms 
which  they  had  commenced  in  the  recent  wars  of  Granada. 
Others  had  been  brought  up  in  soft,  luxurious  indulgence, 
m  the  midst  of  opulent  families,  and  were  little  calculated  for 
the  rude  perils  of  the  seas,  the  fatigues  of  the  land,  and  the 
hardships,  the  exposures,  and  deprivations  which  attend  a  new 
settlement  in  the  wilderness.  When  they  fell  ill,  their  case 
soon  became  incurable.  The  ailments  of  the  body  were  in¬ 
creased  by  sickness  of  the  heart.  They  suffered  under  the  irri 
tation  of  wounded  pride,  and  the  morbid  melancholy  of  disap¬ 
pointed  hope;  their  sick-bed  was  destitute  of  all  the  tendei 
care  and  soothing  attention  to  which  they  had  been  accus¬ 
tomed  ;  and  they  sank  into  the  grave  in  all  the  sullenness  of 
despair,  cursing  the  day  of  their*  departure  from  their  country. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


267 


The  venerable  Las  Casas,  and  Herrera  after  him,  record,  with 
much  solemnity,  a  popular  belief  current  in  the  island  at  the 
time  of  his  residence  there,  and  connected  with  the  untimely 
fate  of  these  cavaliers. 

In  after  years,  when  the  seat  of  the  colony  was  removed  from 
Isabella  on  account  of  its  unhealthy  situation,  the  city  fell  to 
ruin,  and  was  abandoned.  Like  all  decayed  and  deserted 
places,  it  soon  became  an  object  of  awe  and  superstition  to  the 
common  people,  and  no  one  ventured  to  enter  its  gates.  Those 
who  passed  near  it,  or  hunted  the  wild  swine  which  abounded 
in  the  neighborhood,  declared  they  heard  appalling  voices  issue 
from  within  its  walls  by  night  and  day.  The  laborers  became 
fearful,  therefore,  of  cultivating  the  adjacent  fields.  The  story 
went,  adds  Las  Casas,  that  two  Spaniards  happened  one  day  to 
wander  among  the  ruined  edifices  of  the  place.  On  entering 
one  of  the  solitary  streets,  they  beheld  two  rows  of  men,  evi¬ 
dently,  from  their  stately  demeanor,  hidalgos  of  noble  blood, 
and  cavaliers  of  the  court.  They  were  richly  attired  in  the  old 
Castilian  mode,  with  rapiers  by  their  sides,  and  broad  travelling 
hats,  such  as  were  worn  at  the  time.  The  two  men  were  asto¬ 
nished  to  behold  persons  of  their  rank  and  appearance  ap¬ 
parently  inhabiting  that  desolate  place,  unknown  to  the  people 
of  the  island.  They  saluted  them,  and  inquired  whence  they 
came  and  when  they  had  arrived.  The  cavaliers  maintained  a 
gloomy  silence,  but  courteously  returned  the  salutation  by 
raising  their  hands  to  their  sombreros  or  hats,  in  taking  off 
which  their  heads  came  off  also,  and  their  bodies  stood  decapi¬ 
tated.  The  whole  phantom  assemblage  then  vanished.  So 
great  was  the  astonishment  and  horror  of  the  beholders,  that 
they  had  nearly  fallen  dead,  and  remained  stupefied  for  several 
days.* 

The  foregoing  legend  is  curious,  as  illustrating  the  supersti¬ 
tious  character  of  the  age,  and  especially  of  the  people  with 
whom  Columbus  had  to  act.  It  shows,  also,  the  deep  and 
gloomy  impression  made  upon  the  minds  of  the  common  people 
by  the  death  of  these  cavaliers,  which  operated  materially  to 
increase  the  unpopularity  of  Columbus ;  as  it  was  mischievously 
represented,  that  they  had  been  seduced  from  then*  homes  by 
his  delusive  promises,  and  sacrificed  to  his  private  interests. 


*  Las  Casas,  Hist.  Ind.,  lib.  i.  cap.  92,  ms.  Herrera,  Hist.  Ind.,  decad.  i.  lib.  ii.  cap.  12 


268 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

DISTRIBUTION  OF  THE  SPANISH  FORCES  IN  THE  INTERIOR- 
PREPARATIONS  FOR  A  YOYAGE  TO  CUBA. 

[1494.] 

The  increasing  discontents  of  the  motle  population  of  Isa- 
bella  and  the  rapid  consumption  of  the  scanty  stores  which 
remained,  were  causes  of  great  anxiety  to  Columbus.  He  was 
desirous  of  proceeding  on  another  voyage  of  discovery,  but  it 
was  indispensable,  before  sailing,  to  place  the  affairs  of  the 
island  in  such  a  state  as  to  secure  tranquillity.  He  determined, 
therefore,  to  send  all  the  men  that  could  be  spared  from  Isa¬ 
bella,  into  the  interior;  with  orders  to  visit  the  territories  of 
the  different  caciques,  and  explore  the  island.  By  this  means 
they  would  be  roused  and  animated;  they  would  become  ac¬ 
customed  to  the  climate  and  to  the  diet  of  the  natives,  and  such 
a  force  would  be  displayed  as  to  overawe  the  machinations  of 
Caonabo  or  any  other  hostile  cacique.  In  pursuance  of  this 
plan,  every  healthy  person,  not  absolutely  necessary  to  the 
concerns  of  the  city  or  the  care  of  the  sick,  was  put  under  arms, 
and  a  little  army  mustered,  consisting  of  two  hundred  and  fifty 
cross-bow  men,  one  hundred  and  ten  arquebusiers,  sixteen 
horsemen,  and  twenty  officers.  The  general  command  of  the 
forces  was  intrusted  to  Pedro  Margarite,  in  whom  Columbus 
had  great  confidence  as  a  noble  Catalonian,  and  a  knight  of  the 
order  of  Santiago.  Alonso  de  Ojeda  was  to  conduct  the  army 
to  the  fortress  of  St.  Thomas,  where  he  was  to  succeed  Mar¬ 
garite  in  the  command ;  and  the  latter  was  to  proceed  with  the 
main  body  of  the  troops  on  a  military  tour,  in  which  he  was 
particularly  to  explore  the  province  of  Cibao,  and  subsequently 
the  other  parts  of  the  island. 

Columbus  wrote  a  long  and  earnest  letter  of  instructions  to 
Margarite,  by  which  to  govern  himself  in  a  service  requiring 
such  great  circumspection.  He  charged  him  above  all  things 
to  observe  the  greatest  justice  and  discretion  in  respect  to  the 
Indians,  protecting  them  from  all  wrong  and  insult,  and  treat¬ 
ing  them  in  such  a  manner  as  to  secure  their  confidence  and 
friendship.  At  the  same  time  they  were  to  De  made  to  respect 
the  property  of  the  white  men,  and  all  thefts  were  to  be  severely 
punished.  Whatever  provisions  were  required  from  them  for 


LIFE  OF  tHBISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


m 


the  subsistence  of  the  army,  were  to  be  fairly  purchased  by 
persons  whom  the  admiral  appointed  for  that  purpose;  the 
purchases  were  to  be  made  in  the  presence  of  the  agent  of  the 
comptroller.  If  the  Indians  refused  to  sell  the  necessary  pro¬ 
visions,  then  Margarite  was  to  interfere  and  compel  them  to  do 
so,  acting,  however,  with  all  possible  gentleness,  and  soothing 
them  by  kindness  and  caresses.  No  traffic  was  to  be  allowed 
between  individuals  and  the  natives,  it  being  displeasing  to 
the  sovereigns  and  injurious  to  the  service ;  and  it  was  always 
to  be  kept  in  mind  that  their  majesties  were  more  desirous  of 
the  conversion  of  the  natives  than  of  any  riches  to  be  derived 
from  them. 

A  strict  discipline  was  to  be  maintained  in  the  army,  all 
breach  of  orders  to  be  severely  punished,  the  men  to  be  kept 
together  and  not  suffered,  to  wander  from  the  main  body,  either 
singly  or  in  small  parties,  lest  they  should  be  cut  off  by  the 
natives;  for  though  these  people  were  pusillanimous,  there 
were  no  people  so  apt  to  be  perfidious  and  cruel  as  cowards.* 

These  judicious  instructions,  which,  if  followed,  might  have 
preserved  an  amicable  intercourse  with  the  natives,  are  more 
especially  deserving  of  notice,  because  Margarite  disregarded 
them  all,  and  by  his  disobedience  brought  trouble  on  the  colony, 
obloquy  on  the  nation,  destruction  on  the  Indians,  and  un¬ 
merited  censure  on  Columbus. 

In  addition  to  the  foregoing  orders,  there  were  particular 
directions  for  the  surprising  and  securing  of  the  persons  of 
Caonabo  and  his  brothers.  The  warlike  character  of  that 
chieftain,  his  artful  policy,  extensive  power,  and  implacable 
hostility,  rendered  him  a  dangerous  enemy.  The  measures 
proposed  were  not  the  most  open  and  chivalrous,  but  Columbus 
thought  himself  justified  in  opposing  stratagem  to  stratagem 
with  a  subtle  and  sanguinary  foe. 

The  9th  of  April,  Alonso  de  Ojeda  sallied  forth  from  Isabella 
at  the  head  of  the  forces,  amounting  to  nearly  four  hundred 
men.  On  arriving  at  the  Rio  del  Oro  in  the  Royal  Vega,  he 
learnt  that  three  Spaniards  coming  from  the  fortress  of  St. 
Thomas  had  been  robbed  of  their  effects  by  five  Indians,  whom 
a  neighboring  cacique  had  sent  to  assist  them  in  fording  the 
river ;  and  that  the  cacique,  instead  of  punishing  the  thieves, 
had  countenanced  them  and  shared  their  booty.  Ojeda  was  a 
quick,  impetuous  soldier,  whose  ideas  of  legislation  were  all  of 
a  military  kind.  Having  caught  one  of  the  thieves,  he  caused 

N  *  Letter  of  Columbus.  Navarre te,  CoLec.»  tom.  ii.  Document  No.  73. 


270 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


his  ears  to  be  cut  off  in  the  public  square  of  the  village ;  he  then 
seized  the  cacique,  his  son,  and  nephew,  and  sent  them  in  chains 
to  the  admiral,  after  which  he  pursued  nis  march  to  the  fortress. 

In  the  mean  time  the  prisoners  arrived  at  Isabella  in  deep 
dejection.  They  were  accompanied  by  a  neighboring  cacique, 
who,  relying  upon  the  merit  of  various  acts  of  kindness  which 
he  had  shown  to  the  Spaniards,  came  to  plead  for  their  for¬ 
giveness.  His  intercessions  appeared  to  be  of  no  avail.  Co¬ 
lumbus  felt  the  importance  of  striking  awe  into  the  minds  of 
the  natives  with  respect  to  the  property  of  the  white  men.  He 
ordered,  therefore,  that  the  prisoners  should  be  taken  to  the 
public  square  with  their  hands  tied  behind  them,  their  crime 
and  punishment  proclaimed  by  the  crier,  and  their  heads  struck 
off.  Nor  was  this  a  punishment  disproportioned  to  their  own 
ideas  of  justice,  for  we  are  told  that  the  crime  of  theft  was  held 
in  such  abhorrence  among  them,  that,  though  not  otherwise 
sanguinary  in  their  laws,  they  punished  it  with  impalement.* 
It  is  not  probable,  however,  that  Columbus  really  meant  to 
carry  the  sentence  into  effect.  At  the  place  of  execution  the 
prayers  and  tears  of  the  friendly  cacique  were  redoubled, 
pledging  himself  that  there  should  be  no  repetition  of  the 
offence.  The  admiral  at  length  made  a  merit  of  yielding  to  his 
entreaties,  and  released  the  prisoners.  Just  at  this  juncture  a 
horseman  arrived  from  the  fortress,  who,  in  passing  by  the 
village  of  the  captive  cacique,  had  found  five  Spaniards  in  the 
power  of  the  Indians.  The  sight  of  his  horse  had  put  the  mul¬ 
titude  to  flight,  though  upward  of  four  hundred  m  number. 
He  had  pursued  the  fugitives,  wounding  several  with  his  lance, 
and  had  brought  off  his  countrymen  in  triumph. 

Convinced  by  this  circumstance  that  nothing  was  to  be  appre¬ 
hended  from  the  hostilities  of  these  timid  people  as  long  as  his 
orders  were  obeyed,  and  confiding  in  the  distribution  he  had 
made  of  his  forces,  both  for  the  tranquillity  of  the  colony  and 
the  island,  Columbus  prepared  to  depart  on  the  prosecution  of 
his  discoveries.  To  direct  the  affairs  of  the  island  during  his 
absence,  he  formed  a  junta,  of  which  his  brother  Don  Diego  was 
president,  and  Father  Boyle,  Pedro  Fernandes  Coronel,  Alonso 
Sanchez  Caravajal,  and  Juan  de  Luxan,  were  councillors.  He 
left  his  two  largest  ships  in  the  harbor,  being  of  too  great  a  size 
and  draught  of  water  to  explore  unknown  coasts  and  rivers, 
and  he  took  with  him  three  caravels,  the  Nina  or  Santa  Clara, 
the  San  Juan,  and  the  Cordera. 


*  Oviedo,  Hist.  Ind.,  lib.  v.  cap.  3. 


BOOK  VII. 


CHAPTER  I. 

4 

VOYAGE  TO  THE  EAST  END  OF  CUBA. 

[1494.] 

The  expedition  of  Columbus,  which  we  are  now  about  to 
record,  may  appear  of  minor  imnortance  at  the  present  day, 
leading  as  it  did  to  no  grand  discovery,  and  merely  extending 
along  the  coasts  of  islands  with  which  the  reader  is  sufficiently 
familiar.  Some  may  feel  impatient  at  the  development  of 
opinions  and  conjectures  which  have  long  since  been  proved  to 
be  fallacious,  and  the  detail  of  exploring  enterprises,  undertaken 
in  error,  and  which  they  know  must  end  in  disappointment. 
But  to  feel  these  voyages  properly,  we  must,  in  a  manner, 
divest  ourselves  occasionally  of  the  information  we  possess, 
relative  to  the  countries  visited ;  we  must  transport  ourselves 
to  the  time,  and  identify  ourselves  with  Columbus,  thus  fear¬ 
lessly  launching  into  seas,  where  as  yet  a  civilized  sail  had 
never  been  unfurled.  We  must  accompany  him,  step  by  step, 
in  his  cautious  but  bold  advances  along  the  bays  and  channels 
of  an  unknown  coast,  ignorant  of  the  dangers  which  might  lurk 
around  or  which  might  await  him  in  the  interminable  region  of 
mystery  that  still  kept  breaking  upon  his  view.  We  must,  as 
it  were,  consult  with  him  as  to  each  new  reach  of  shadowy 
land,  and  long  line  of  promontory,  that  we  see  faintly  emerg¬ 
ing  from  the  ocean  and  stretching  along  the  distant  horizon. 
We  must  watch  with  him  each  light  canoe  that  comes  skim¬ 
ming  the  billows,  to  gather  from  the  looks,  the  ornaments,  and 
the  imperfect  communications  of  its  wandering  crew,  whether 
those  unknown  lands  are  also  savage  and  uncultivated,  whether 
they  are  islands  in  the  ocean,  untrodden  as  yet  by  civilized 
man,  or  tracts  of  the  old  continent  of  Asia,  and  wild  frontiers 
of  its  populous  and  splendid  empires.  We  must  enter  mto  his 


272 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


very  thoughts  and  fancies,  find  out  the  data  that  assisted  his 
judgment,  and  the  hints  that  excited  his  conjectures,  and  for  a 
time  clothe  the  regions  through  which  we  are  accompanying 
him  with  the  gorgeous  coloring  of  his  own  imagination.  In 
this  way  we  may  delude  ourselves  into  participation  of  the 
delight  of  exploring  unknown  and  magnificent  lands,  where 
new  wonders  and  beauties  break  upon  us  at  every  step,  and  we 
>may  ultimately  be  able,  as  it  were,  from  our  own  familiar 
'acquaintance,  to  form  an  opinion  of  the  character  of  this  ex¬ 
traordinary  man,  and  of  the  nature  of  his  enterprises. 

The  plan  of  the  present  expedition  of  Columbus  was  to  revisit 
the  coast  of  Cuba  at  the  point  where  he  had  abandoned  it  on 
his  first  voyage,  and  thence  to  explore  it  on  the  southern  side. 
As  has  already  been  observed,  he  supposed  it  to  be  a  continent, 
and  the  extreme  end  of  Asia,  and  if  so,  by  following  its  shores 
in  the  proposed  direction  he  must  eventually  arrive  at  Cathay 
and  those  other  rich  and  commercial  though  semi-barbarous 
countries  described  by  Mandeville  and  Marco  Polo.* 

He  set  sail  with  his  little  squadron  from  the  harbor  of  Isa¬ 
bella  on  the  24th  of  April,  and  steered  to  the  westward.  After 
touching  at  Monte  Christi,  he  anchored  on  the  same  day  at  the 
disastrous  harbor  of  La  Navidad.  His  object  in  revisiting  this 
melancholy  scene  was  to  obtain  an  interview  with  Guacanagari, 
who,  he  understood,  had  returned  to  his  former  residence.  He 
could  not  be  persuaded  of  the  perfidy  of  that  cacique,  so  deep 
was  the  impression  made  upon  his  heart  by  past  kindness ;  he 
trusted,  therefore,  that  a  frank  explanation  would  remove  all 
painful  doubts,  and  restore  a  friendly  intercourse,  which  would 
be  highly  advantageous  to  the  Spaniards,  in  their  present  time 
of  scarcity  and  suffering.  Guacanagari,  however,  still  main¬ 
tained  his  equivocal  conduct,  absconding  at  the  sight  of  the 
ships;  and  though  several  of  his  subjects  assured  Columbus 
that  the  cacique  would  soon  make  him  a  visit,  he  did  not  think 
it  advisable  to  delay  his  voyage  on  such  an  uncertainty. 

Pursuing  his  course,  impeded  occasionally  by  contrary 
winds,  he  arrived  on  the  29th  at  the  port  of  St.  Nicholas, 
whence  he  beheld  the  extreme  point  of  Cuba,  to  which  in  liis 
preceding  voyage  he  had  given  the  name  of  Alpha  and  Omega, 
but  which  was  called  by  the  natives  Bayatiquiri,  and  is  now 
known  as  Point  Maysi.  Having  crossed  the  channel,  which  is 
about  eighteen  leagues  wide,  he  sailed  along  the  sou  aiern  coast 


*  Cura  de  los  Palacios,  cap.  123,  ms. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


273 


of  Cuba,  for  the  distance  of  twenty  leagues,  when  he  anchored 
in  a  harbor,  to  which,  from  its  size,  he  gave  the  name  of  Puerto 
Grande,  at  present  called  Guantanamo.  The  entrance  was  nar¬ 
row  and  winding,  though  deep;  the  harbor  expanded  within 
like  a  beautiful  lake,  in  the  bosom  of  a  wild  and  mountainous 
country,  covered  with  trees,  some  of  them  in  blossom,  others 
bearing  fruit.  Not  far  from  the  shore  were  two  cottages  built 
of  reeds,  and  several  fires  blazing  in  various  parts  of  the  beach 
gave  signs  of  inhabitants.  Columbus  landed,  therefore,  attend¬ 
ed  by  several  men  well  armed,  and  by  the  young  Indian  inter¬ 
preter  Diego  Colon,  the  native  of  the  island  of  Guanahani  who 
had  been  baptized  in  Spain.  On  arriving  at  the  cottages,  he 
found  them  deserted ;  the  fires  also  were  abandoned,  and  there 
was  not  a  human  being  to  be  seen.  The  Indians  had  all  fled  to 
the  woods  and  mountains.  The  sudden  arrival  of  the  ships  had 
spread  a  panic  throughout  the  neighborhood,  and  apparently 
interrupted  the  preparations  for  a  rude  but  plentiful  banquet. 
There  were  great  quantities  of  fish,  utias,  and  guanas ;  some 
suspended  to  the  branches  of  the  trees,  others  roasting  on 
wooden  spits  before  the  fires. 

The  Spaniards,  accustomed  of  late  to  slender  fare,  fell  with¬ 
out  ceremony  on  this  bounteous  feast,  thus  spread  for  them,  as 
it  were,  in  the  wilderness.  They  abstained,  however,  from  the 
guanas,  which  they  still  regarded  with  disgust  as  a  species  of 
serpent,  though  they  were  considered  so  delicate  a  food  by  the 
savages,  that,  according  to  Peter  Martyr,  it  was  no  more  law¬ 
ful  for  the  common  people  to  eat  of  them,  than  of  peacocks  and 
pheasants  in  Spain.* 

After  their  repast,  as  the  Spaniards  were  roving  about  the 
vicinity,  they  beheld  about  seventy  of  the  natives  collected  on 
the  top  of  a  lofty  rock,  and  looking  down  upon  them  with 
great  awe  and  amazement.  On  attempting  to  approach  them 
they  instantly  disappeared  among  the  woods  and  clefts  of  the 
mountain.  One,  however,  more  bold  or  more  curious  than  ihe 
rest,  lingered  on  the  brow  of  the  precipice,  gazing  with  timid 
wonder  at  the  Spaniards,  partly  encouraged  by  their  friendly 
signs,  but  ready  in  an  instant  to  bound  away  after  his  com¬ 
panions. 

By  order  of  Columbus  the  young  Lucayan  interpreter  ad, 
vanced  and  accosted  him.  The  expressions  of  friendship,  in 
his  own  language,  soon  dispelled  his  apprehensions.  Pie  came 


*  P.  Martyr,  dccad.  !.  lib.  ill 


274 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


to  meet  the  interpreter,  and  being  informed  by  him  of  the  good 
intentions  of  the  Spaniards,  hastened  to  communicate  the  in¬ 
telligence  to  his  comrades.  In  a  little  while  they  were  seen 
descending  from  their  rocks,  and  issuing  from  their  forests,  ap¬ 
proaching  the  strangers  with  great  gentleness  and  veneration. 
Through  the  means  of  the  interpreter,  Columbus  learnt  that 
they  had  been  sent  to  the  coast  by  their  cacique,  to  procure  fish  for 
a  solemn  banquet,  which  he  was  about  to  give  to  a  neighboring 
chieftain,  and  that  they  roasted  the  fish  to  prevent  it  from 
spoiling  in  the  transportation.  They  seemed  to  be  of  the  same 
gentle  and  pacific  character  with  the  natives  of  Hayti.  The 
ravages  that  had  been  made  among  their  provisions  by  the  hun¬ 
gry  Spaniards  gave  them  no  concern,  for  they  observed  that 
one  night’s  fishing  would  replace  all  the  loss.  Columbus,  how¬ 
ever,  in  his  usual  spirit  of  justice,  ordered  that  ample  compen¬ 
sation  should  be  made  them,  and,  shaking  hands,  they  parted 
mutually  well-pleased.* 

Leaving  this  harbor  on  the  1st  of  May,  the  admiral  continued 
to  the  westward,  along  a  mountainous  coast,  adorned  by  beau¬ 
tiful  rivers,  and  indented  by  those  commodious  harbors  for 
which  this  island  is  so  remarkable.  As  he  advanced,  the  coun¬ 
try  grew  more  fertile  and  populous.  The  natives  crowded  to 
the  shores,  man,  woman,  and  child,  gazing  with  astonishment 
at  the  ships,  which  glided  gently  along  at  no  great  distance. 
They  held  up  fruits  and  provisions,  inviting  the  Spaniards  to 
land ;  others  came  off  in  canoes,  bringing  cassava,  bread,  fish, 
and  calabashes  of  water,  not  for  sale,  but  as  offerings  to  the 
strangers,  whom,  as  usual,  they  considered  celestial  beings  de¬ 
scended  from  the  skies.  Columbus  distributed  the  customary 
presents  among  them,  which  were  received  with  transports 
of  joy  and  gratitude.  After  continuing  some  distance  along 
the  coast,  he  came  to  another  gulf  or  deep  bay,  narrow  at  the 
entrance  and  expanding  within,  surrounded  by  a  rich  and 
beautiful  country.  There  were  lofty  mountains  sweeping  up 
from  the  sea,  but  the  shores  were  enlivened  by  numerous  vil¬ 
lages,  and  cultivated  to  such  a  degree  as  to  resemble  gardens 
and  orchards.  In  this  harbor,  which  it  is  probable  was  the 
same  at  present  called  St.  Jago  de  Cuba,  Columbus  anchored 
and  passed  a  night,  overwhelmed,  as  usual,  with  the  simple  hos¬ 
pitality  of  the  natives,  f 

On  inquiring  of  the  people  of  this  coast  after  gold,  they  uni 


*  Peter  Martyr  ubi  sup. 


t  Cura  de  los  Palacios,  cap.  124,  ms. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


275 


formly  pointed  to  the  south,  and,  as  far  as  they  could  be 
understood,  intimated  that  it  abounded  in  a  great  island  which 
lay  in  that  direction.  The  admiral,  in  the  course  of  his  first 
voyage,  had  received  information  of  such  an  island,  which 
some  of  his  followers  had  thought  might  be  Babeque,  the  ob¬ 
ject  of  so  much  anxious  search  and  chimerical  expectation, 
lie  had  felt  a  strong  inclination  to  diverge  from  his  course 
and  go  in  quest  of  it,  and  this  desire  increased  with  every 
new  report.  On  the  following  day,  therefore  (the  3d  of  May), 
after  standing  westward  to  a  high  cape,  he  turned  his  prow 
directly  south,  and  abandoning  for  a  time  the  coast  of  Cuba, 
steered  off  into  the  broad  sea,  in  quest  of  this  reported  island. 


CHAPTER  II. 

DISCOVERY  OF  JAMAICA. 

[1494.] 

Columbus  had  not  sailed  many  leagues  before  the  blue  sum¬ 
mits  of  a  vast  and  lofty  island  at  a  great  distance,  began  to 
rise  like  clouds  above  the  horizon.  It  was  two  days  and  nights, 
however,  before  he  reached  its  shores,  filled  with  admiration, 
as  he  gradually  drew  near,  at  the  beauty  of  its  mountains,  the 
majesty  of  its  forests,  the  fertility  of  its  valleys,  and  the  great 
number  of  villages  with  which  the  whole  face  of  the  country 
was  animated. 

On  approaching  the  land,  at  least  seventy  canoes,  filled  with 
savages  gaily  painted  and  decorated  with  feathers,  sallied 
forth  more  than  a  league  from  the  shore.  They  advanced  in 
warlike  array,  uttering  loud  yells,  and  brandishing  lances  of 
pointed  wood.  The  mediation  of  the  interpreter,  and  a  few 
presents  to  the  crew  of  one  of  the  canoes,  which  ventured 
nearer  than  the  rest,  soothed  this  angry  armada,  and  the  squad¬ 
ron  pursued  its  course  unmolested.  Columbus  anchored  in  a 
harbor  about  the  centre  of  the  island,  to  which,  from  the  great 
beauty  of  the  surrounding  country,  he  gave  the  name  of  Santa 
Gloria.* 

On  the  following  morning  he  weighed  anchor  at  daybreak, 


*  Cura  de  los  Palacios,  cae  125. 


276 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


and  coasted  westward  in  search  of  a  sheltered  harbor,  wher/v 
his  ship  could  be  careened  and  calked,  as  it  leaked  considerably. 
After  proceeding  a  few  leagues,  he  found  one  apparently  suifi 
able  for  the  purpose.  On  sending  a  boat  to  sound  the  entrance, 
two  large  canoes,  filled  with  Indians,  issued  forth,  hurling  their 
lances,  but  from  such  distance  as  to  fall  short  of  the  Spaniards. 
Wishing  to  avoid  any  act  of  hostility  that  might  prevent  future 
intercourse,  Columbus  ordered  the  boat  to  return  on  board,  and 
finding  there  was  sufficient  depth  of  water  for  his  ship,  entered 
and  anchored  in  the  harbor.  Immediately  the  whole  beach  was 
covered  with  Indians  painted  with  a  variety  of  colors,  but 
chiefly  black,  some  partly  clothed  with  palm-leaves,  and  all 
wearing  tufts  and  coronets  of  feathers.  Unlike  the  hospitable 
islanders  of  Cuba  and  Hayti,  they  appeared  to  partake  of  the 
warlike  character  of  the  Caribs,  hurling  their  javelins  at  the 
ships,  and  making  the  shores  resound  with  their  yells  and  war- 
whoops. 

The  admiral  reflected  that  further  forbearance  might  be  mis¬ 
taken  for  cowardice.  It  was  necessary  to  careen  his  ship,  and 
to  send  men  on  shore  for  a  supply  of  water,  but  previously  it 
was  advisable  to  strike  an  awe  into  the  savages,  that  might  pre¬ 
vent  any  molestation  from  them.  As  the  caravels  could  not 
approach  sufficiently  near  to  the  beach  where  the  Indians  were 
collected,  he  dispatched  the  boats  well  manned  and  armed. 
These,  rowing  close  to  the  shore,  let  fly  a  volley  of  arrows 
from  their  cross-bows,  by  which  several  Indians  were  wounded, 
and  the  rest  thrown  into  confusion.  The  Spaniards  then  sprang 
on  shore,  and  put  the  whole  multitude  to  flight,  giving  another 
discharge  with  their  cross-bows,  and  letting  loose  upon  them  a 
dog,  who  pursued  them  with  sanguinary  fury.*  This  is  the 
first  instance  of  the  use  of  dogs  against  the  natives,  which  were 
afterward  employed  with  such  cruel  effect  by  the  Spaniards  in 
their  Indian  wars.  Columbus  now  landed  and  took  formal  pos¬ 
session  of  the  island,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  Santiago ; 
but  it  has  retained  its  original  Indian  name  of  Jamaica.  The 
harbor,  from  its  commodiousness,  he  called  Puerto  Bueno;  it 
was  in  the  form  of  a  horseshoe,  and  a  river  entered  the  sea  in 
its  vicinity,  f 

During  the  rest  of  the  day  the  neighborhood  remained  silent 
and  deserted.  On  the  following  morning,  however,  before  sun¬ 
rise,  six  Indians  were  seen  on  the  shore,  making  signs  of  amity. 


*  Cura  de  los  Palaoios,  cap.  125, 


t  Hist,  del  Almiraute.  ubi  sud. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


277 


They  proved  to  be  envoys  sent  by  the  caciques  with  proffers  of 
peace  and  friendship.  These  were  cordially  returned  by  the 
admiral ;  presents  of  trinkets  were  sent  to  the  chieftains ;  and 
in  a  little  while  the  harbor  again  swarmed  with  the  naked  and 
painted  multitude,  bringing  abundance  of  provisions,  similar  in 
kind,  but  superior  in  quality,  to  those  of  the  other  islands. 

During  three  days  that  the  ships  remained  in  this  harbor, 
the  most  amicable  intercourse  was  kept  up  with  the  natives. 
They  appeared  to  be  more  ingenious,  as  well  as  more  warlike, 
than  their  neighbors  of  Cuba  and  Hayti.  Their  canoes  were 
better  constructed,  being  ornamented  with  carving  and  paint¬ 
ing  at  the  bow  and  stern.  Many  were  of  great  size,  though 
formed  of  the  trunks  of  single  trees,  often  from  a  species  of  the 
mahogany.  Columbus  measured  one,  which  was  ninety-six  feet 
long,  and  eight  broad,*  hollowed  out  of  one  of  those  magnificent 
trees  which  rise  like  verdant  towers  amidst  the  rich  forests  of 
the  tropics.  Every  cacique  prided  himself  on  possessing  a  large 
canoe  of  the  kind,  which  he  seemed  to  regard  as  his  ship  of 
state.  It  is  curious  to  remark  the  apparently  innate  difference 
between  these  island  tribes.  The  natives  of  Porto  Rico,  though 
surrounded  by  adjacent  islands,  and  subject  to  frequent  incur¬ 
sions  of  the  Caribs,  were  of  a  pacific  character,  and  possessed 
very  few  canoes ;  while  Jamaica,  separated  by  distance  from 
intercourse  with  other  islands,  protected  in  the  same  way  from 
the  dangers  of  invasion,  and  embosomed,  as  it  were,  in  a  peace¬ 
ful  Mediterranean  Sea,  was  inhabited  by  a  warlike  race,  and 
surpassed  all  the  other  islands  in  its  maritime  armaments. 

His  ship  being  repaired,  and  a  supply  of  water  taken  in,  Co¬ 
lumbus  made  sail,  and  continued  along  the  coast  to  the  west¬ 
ward,  so  close  to  the  shore  that  the  little  squadron  was  contin¬ 
ually  surrounded  by  the  canoes  of  the  natives,  who  came  off 
from  every  bay,  and  river,  and  headland,  no  longer  manifest¬ 
ing  hostility,  but  anxious  to  exchange  anything  they  possessed 
for  European  trifles.  After  proceeding  about  twenty-four 
leagues,  they  approached  the  western  extremity  of  the  island, 
where  the  coast  bending  to  the  south,  the  wind  became  unfa¬ 
vorable  for  their  further  progress  along  the  shore.  Being  dis¬ 
appointed  in  his  hopes  of  finding  gold  in  Jamaica,  and  the 
breeze  being  fair  for  Cuba,  Columbus  determined  to  return 
thither,  and  not  to  leave  it  until  he  had  explored  its  coast  to  a 
sufficient  distance  to  determine  the  question  whether  it  was 


*  Cura  de  los  Palacios,  cap.  184. 


278 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


terra  firma  or  an  island.*  To  the  last  place  at  which  he 
touched  in  Jamaica,  he  gave  the  name  of  the  Gulf  of  Buen- 
tiempo  (or  Fair  Weather),  on  account  of  the  propitious  wind 
which  blew  for  Cuba.  Just  as  he  was  about  to  sail,  a  young  In¬ 
dian  came  off  to  the  ship,  and  begged  the  Spaniards  would  take 
him  to  their  country.  He  was  followed  by  his  relatives  and 
friends,  who  endeavored  by  the  most  affecting  supplications  to 
dissuade  him  from  his  purpose.  For  some  time  he  was  dis- 
tracted  between  concern  for  the  distress  of  his  family,  and 
an  ardent  desire  to  see  the  home  of  these  wonderful  strangers. 
Curiosity,  and  the  youthful  propensity  to  rove,  prevailed ;  he 
tore,  himself  from  the  embraces  of  his  friends,  and,  that  he 
might  not  behold  the  tears  of  his  sisters,  hid  himself  in  a  secret 
part  of  the  ship.  Touched  by  this  scene  of  natural  affection, 
and  pleased  with  the  enterprising  and  confiding  spirit  of  the 
youth,  Columbus  gave  orders  that  he  should  be  treated  with 
especial  kindness,  f 

It  would  have  been  interesting  to  have  known  something 
more  of  the  fortunes  of  this  curious  savage,  and  of  the  impres¬ 
sions  made  upon  so  lively  a  mind  by  a  first  sight  of  the  wonders 
of  civilization — whether  the  land  of  the  white  men  equalled  his 
hopes ;  whether,  as  is  usual  with  savages,  he  pined  amid  the 
splendors  of  cities  for  his  native  forests,  and  whether  he  ever 
returned  to  the  arms  of  his  family.  The  early  Spanish  histor¬ 
ians  seem  never  to  have  interested  themselves  in  the  feelings 
or  fortunes  of  these  first  visitors  from  the  New  to  the  Old 
World.  No  further  mention  is  made  of  this  youthful  adven¬ 
turer. 


CHAPTER  III. 

RETURN  TO  CUBA— NAVIGATION  AMONG  THEJ  ISLANDS  CALLED  THE 

QUEEN’S  GARDENS, 

[1494.] 

Setting  sail  from  the  Gulf  of  Buentiempo,  the  squadron  once 
more  steered  for  the  island  of  Cuba,  and  on  the  18th  of  May 
arrived  at  a  great  cape,  to  which  Columbus  gave  the  name  of 


♦Hist,  del  Alnairante,  cap.  54. 


tlbid. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


279 


Cabo  de  la  Cruz,  which  it  still  retains.  Here,  landing  at  a 
large  village,  he  was  well  received  and  entertained  by  the 
cacique  and  his  subjects,  who  had  long  since  heard  of  him  and 
his  ships.  In  fact,  Columbus  found,  from  the  report  of  this 
chieftain,  that  the  numerous  Indians  who  had  visited  his  ships 
during  his  cruise  along  the  northern  coast  in  his  first  voyage, 
had  spread  the  story  far  and  near  of  these  wonderful  visitors 
who  had  descended  from  the  sky,  and  had  filled  the  whole 
island  with  rumors  and  astonishment.*  The  admiral  endeav¬ 
ored  to  ascertain  from  this  cacique  and  his  people,  whether 
Cuba  was  an  island  or  a  continent.  They  all  replied  that  it 
was  an  island,  but  of  infinite  extent ;  for  they  declared  that  no 
one  had  ever  seen  the  end  of  it.  This  reply,  while  it  manifested 
their  ignorance  of  the  nature  of  a  continent,  left  the  question 
still  in  doubt  and  obscurity.  The  Indian  name  of  this  province 
of  Cuba  was  Macaca. 

Resuming  his  course  to  the  west  on  the  following  day, 
Columbus  came  to  where  the  coast  suddenly  swept  away  to 
the  north-east  for  many  leagues,  and  then  curved  around  again 
to  the  west,  forming  an  immense  bay,  or  rather  gulf.  Here  he 
was  assailed  by  a  violent  storm,  accompanied  by  awful  thun¬ 
der  and  lightning,  which  in  these  latitudes  seem  to  rend  the  very 
heavens.  Fortunately  the  storm  was  not  of  long  duration,  or 
his  situation  would  have  been  perilous  in  the  extreme ;  for  he 
found  the  navigation  rendered  difficult  by  numerous  f  keys  and 
sand-banks.  These  increased  as  he  advanced,  until  the  mari¬ 
ner  stationed  at  the  masthead  beheld  the  sea,  as  far  as  the  eye 
could  reach,  completely  studded  with  small  islands ;  some  were 
low,  naked,  and  sandy,  others  covered  with  verdure,  and 
others  tufted  with  lofty  and  beautiful  forests.  They  were  of 
various  sizes,  from  one  to  four  leagues,  and  were  generally  the 
more  fertile  and  elevated,  the  nearer  they  were  to  Cuba. 
Finding  them  to  increase  in  number,  so  as  to  render  it  impossi¬ 
ble  to  give  names  to  each,  the  admiral  gave  the  whole  laby¬ 
rinth  of  islands,  which  in  a  manner  enamelled  the  face  of  the 
ocean  with  variegated  verdure,  the  name  of  the  Queen’s 
Gardens.  He  thought  at  first  of  leaving  this  archipelago  on 
his  right,  and  standing  farther  out  to  sea;  but  ho  called  to 
mind  that  Sir  John  Mandeville  and  Marco  Polo  had  mentioned 


*  Cura  de  los  Palacios,  cap.  126. 

+  Keys,  from  Cayos,  rocks  which  occasionally  form  small  islands  on  the  coast  of 
America. 


280 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


that  the  coast  of  Asia  was  fringed  with  islands  to  the  amount 
of  several  thousand.  He  persuaded  himself  that  he  was  among 
that  cluster,  and  resolved  not  to  lose  sight  of  the  main-land,  by 
following  which,  if  it  were  really  Asia,  he  must  soon  arrive  at 
the  dominions  of  the  Grand  Khan. 

Entering  among  these  islands,  therefore,  Columbus  soon 
became  entangled  in  the  most  perplexed  navigation,  in  which 
he  was  exposed  to  continual  perils  and  difficulties  from  sand¬ 
banks,  counter  currents,  and  sunken  rocks.  The  ships  were 
compelled,  in  a  manner,  to  grope  their  way,  with  men  stationed 
at  the  masthead,  and  the  lead  continually  going.  Sometimes 
they  were  obliged  to  shift  their  course,  within  the  hour,  to  all 
points  of  the  compass ;  sometimes  they  were  straitened  in  a 
narrow  channel,  where  it  was  necessary  to  lower  all  sail,  and 
tow  the  vessels  out,  lest  they  should  run  aground ;  notwith¬ 
standing  all  which  precautions  they  frequently  touched  upon 
sand-banks,  and  were  extricated  with  great  difficulty.  The 
variableness  of  the  weather  added  to  the  embarrassment  of 
the  navigation ;  though  after  a  little  while  it  began  to  assume 
some  method  in  its  very  caprices.  In  the  morning  the  wind 
rose  in  the  east  with  the  sun,  and  following  his  course  through 
the  day,  died  away  at  sunset  in  the  west.  Heavy  clouds  gath¬ 
ered  with  the  approach  of  evening,  sending  forth  sheets  of 
lightning,  and  distant  peals  of  thunder,  and  menacing  a  furious 
tempest;  but  as  the  moon  rose,  the  whole  mass  broke  away, 
part  melting  in  a  shower,  and  part  dispersing  by  a  breeze 
which  sprang  up  from  the  land. 

There  was  much  in  the  character  of  the  surrounding  scenery 
to  favor  the  idea  of  Columbus,  that  he  was  in  the  Asiatic  archi¬ 
pelago.  As  the  ships  glided  along  the  smooth  and  glassy  canals 
which  separated  these  verdant  islands,  the  magnificence  of 
their  vegetation,  the  soft  odors  wafted  from  flowers,  and  blos¬ 
soms,  and  aromatic  shrubs,  and  the  splendid  plumage  of  the 
scarlet  cranes,  or  rather  flamingoes,  which  abounded  in  the 
meadows,  and  of  other  tropical  birds  which  fluttered  among 
the  groves,  resembled  what  is  described  of  Oriental  climes. 
These  islands  were  generally  uninhabited.  They  found  a  con¬ 
siderable  village,  however,  on  one  of  the  largest,  where  they 
landed  on  the  22d  of  May.  The  houses  were  abandoned  by  their 
inhabitants,  who  appeared  to  depend  principally  on  the  sea  for 
their  subsistence.  Large  quantities  of  fish  were  found  in  their 
dwellings,  and  the  adjacent  shore  was  covered  with  the  shells 
of  tortoises.  There  were  also  domesticated  parrots,  and  scarlet 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


281 


cranes,  and  a  number  of  dumb  dogs,  which  it  was  afterward 
found  they  fattened  as  an  article  of  food.  To  this  island  the 
admiral  gave  the  name  of  Santa  Marta. 

In  the  course  of  his  voyage  among  these  islands,  Columbus 
beheld  one  day  a  number  of  the  natives  in  a  canoe  on  the  still 
surface  of  one  of  the  channels,  occupied  in  fishing,  and  was 
struck  with  the  singular  means  they  employed.  They  had  a 
small  fish,  the  flat  head  of  which  was  furnished  with  numerous 
suckers,  by  which  it  attached  itself  so  firmly  to  any  object,  as 
to  be  tom  in  pieces  rather  than  abandon  its  hold.  Tying  a  hue 
of  great  length  to  the  tail  of  this  fish,  the  Indians  permitted  it 
to  swim  at  large ;  it  generally  kept  near  the  surface  of  the 
water  until  it  perceived  its  prey,  when,  darting  down  swiftly, 
it  attached  itself  by  the  suckers  to  the  throat  of  a  fish  or  to  the 
under  shell  of  a  tortoise,  nor  did  it  relinquish  its  prey  until 
both  were  drawn  up  by  the  fisherman  and  taken  out  of  the 
water.  In  this  way  the  Spaniards  witnessed  the  taking  of  a 
tortoise  of  immense  size,  and  Fernando  Columbus  affirms  that 
he  himself  saw  a  shark  caught  in  the  same  manner  on  the 
coast  of  Veragua.  The  fact  has  been  corroborated  by  the  ac¬ 
counts  of  various  navigators ;  and  the  same  mode  of  fishing  is 
said  to  be  employed  on  the  eastern  coast  of  Africa,  at  Mo¬ 
zambique,  and  at  Madagascar.  “  Thus,”  it  has  been  observed, 
“savage  people,  who  probably  have  never  held  communication 
with  each  other,  offer  the  most  striking  analogies  in  their 
modes  of  exercising  empire  over  animals.”*  These  fishermen 
came  on  board  of  the  ships  in  a  fearless  manner.  They  fur¬ 
nished  the  Spaniards  with  a  supply  of  fish,  and  would  cheer¬ 
fully  have  given  them  everything  they  possessed.  To  the  ad¬ 
miral’s  inquiries  concerning  those  parts,  they  said  that  the  sea 
was  full  of  islands  to  the  south  and  to  the  west,  but  as  to  Cuba, 
it  continued  running  to  the  westward  without  any  termina¬ 
tion. 

Having  extricated  himself  from  this  archipelago,  Columbus 
steered  for  a  mountainous  part  of  the  island  of  Cuba  about 
fourteen  leagues  distant,  where  he  landed  at  a  large  village  on 
the  3d  of  June.  Here  he  was  received  with  that  kindness  and 
amity  which  distinguished  the  inhabitants  of  Cuba,  whom  he 
extolled  above  all  the  other  islanders  for  their  mild  and  pacific 
character.  Their  very  animals,  he  said,  were  tamer,  as  well  as 
larger  and  better,  than  those  of  the  other  islands.  Among  the 


*  Humboldt,  Essai  Politique  sur  Pile  de  Cuba,  tom.  i.  p.  364. 


282 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


various  articles  of  food  which  the  natives  brought  with  joyful 
alacrity  from  all  parts,  were  stock-doves  of  uncommon  size 
and  flavor ;  perceiving  something  peculiar  in  their  taste,  Colum¬ 
bus  ordered  the  crops  of  several  newly  killed  to  be  opened,  in 
which  were  found  sweet  spices. 

While  the  crews  of  the  boats  were  procuring  water  and  pro¬ 
visions,  Columbus  sought  to  gather  information  from  the  ven¬ 
erable  cacique,  and  several  of  the  old  men  of  the  village.  They 
told  him  that  the  name  of  their  province  was  Ornofay;  that 
farther  to  the  westward  the  sea  was  again  covered  with  in¬ 
numerable  islands,  and  had  but  little  depth.  As  to  Cuba,  none 
of  them  had  ever  heard  that  it  had  an  end  to  the  westward ; 
forty  moons  would  not  suffice  to  reach  to  its  extremity ;  in  fact, 
they  considered  it  interminable.  They  observed,  however,  that 
the  admiral  would  receive  more  ample  information  from  the 
inhabitants  of  Mangon,  an  adjacent  province,  which  lay  toward 
the  west.  The  quick  apprehension  of  Columbus  was  struck 
with  the  sound  of  this  name ;  it  resembled  that  of  Mangi,  the 
richest  province  of  the  Grand  Khan,  bordering  on  the  ocean. 
He  made  further  inquiries  concerning  the  region  of  Mangon, 
and  understood  the  Indians  to  say  that  it  was  inhabited  by 
people  who  had  tails  like  animals,  and  wore  garments  to  con¬ 
ceal  them.  He  recollected  that  Sir  John  Mandeville,  in  his 
account  of  the  remote  parts  of  the  East,  had  recorded  a  story 
of  the  same  kind  as  current  among  certain  naked  tribes  of 
Asia,  and  told  by  them  in  ridicule  of  the  garments  of  their 
civilized  neighbors,  which  they  could  only  conceive  useful  as 
concealing  some  bodily  defect.*  He  became,  therefore,  more 
confident  than  ever  that,  by  keeping  along  the  coast  to  the  west¬ 
ward,  he  should  eventually  arrive  at  the  civilized  realms  of 
Asia.  He  flattered  himself  with  the  hopes  of  finding  this  re¬ 
gion  of  Mangon  to  be  the  rich  province  of  Mangi,  and  its  people 
with  tails  and  garments,  the  long-robed  inhabitants  of  the  em¬ 
pire  of  Tartary. 


♦Cura  de  los  Palacios,  cap.  127. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


283 


CHAPTER  IV. 

COASTING  OF  THE  SOUTHERN  SIDE  OF  CUBA. 

[1494.] 

Animated  by  one  of  the  pleasing  illusions  of  his  ardent  im¬ 
agination,  Columbus  pursued  his  voyage,  with  a  prosperous 
breeze,  along  the  supposed  continent  of  Asia.  He  was  now 
opposite  that  part  of  the  southern  side  of  Cuba,  where,  for 
nearly  thirty-five  leagues,  the  navigation  is  unembarrassed  by 
banks  and  islands.  To  his  left  was  the  broad  and  open  sea,  the 
dark  blue  color  of  which  gave  token  of  ample  depth;  to  his 
right  extended  the  richly-wooded  province  of  Ornofay,  gradu¬ 
ally  sweeping  up  into  a  range  of  interior  mountains ;  the  ver¬ 
dant  coast  watered  by  innumerable  streams,  and  studded  with 
Indian  villages.  The  appearance  of  the  ships  spread  wonder 
and  joy  along  the  sea-coast.  The  natives  hailed  with  acclama¬ 
tions  the  arrival  of  these  wonderful  beings  whose  fame  had  cir¬ 
culated  more  or  less  throughout  the  island,  and  who  brought 
with  them  the  blessings  of  heaven.  They  came  off  swimming, 
or  in  their  canoes,  to  offer  the  fruits  and  productions  of  the 
land,  and  regarded  the  white  men  almost  with  adoration. 
After  the  usual  evening  shower,  when  the  breeze  blew  from 
the  shore  and  brought  off  the  sweetness  of  the  land,  it  bore 
with  it  also  the  distant  songs  of  the  natives  and  the  sound  of 
their  rude  music,  as  they  were  probably  celebrating,  with  their 
national  chants  and  dances,  the  arrival  of  the  white  men.  So 
delightful  were  these  spicy  odors  and  cheerful  sounds  to  Co¬ 
lumbus,  who  was  at  present  open  to  all  pleasurable  influences, 
that  he  declared  the  night  passed  away  as  a  single  hour.* 

It  is  impossible  to  resist  noticing  the  striking  contrasts  which 
are  sometimes  presented  by  the  lapse  of  time.  The  coast  here 
described,  so  populous  and  animated,  rejoicing  in  the  visit  of  the 
discoverers,  is  the  same  that  extends  westward  of  the  city  ot 
Trinidad,  along  the  Gulf  of  Xagua.  All  is  now  silent  and  de¬ 
serted  :  civilization,  which  has  covered  some  parts  of  Cuba  with 
ghttering  cities,  has  rendered  this  a  solitude.  The  whole  race 
of  Indians  has  long  since  passed  away,  inning  and  perishing  be- 


*  Cura  d©  los  Palacios. 


284 


LIFE  OF  CniUSTOPUER  COLUMBUS L 


ncath  the  domination  of  the  strangers  whom  they  welcomed  so 
joyfully  to  their  shores.  Before  me  lies  the  account  of  a  night 
recently  passed  on  this  very  coast,  by  a  celebrated  traveller ; 
but  with  what  different  feelings  from  those  of  Columbus!  “  I 
passed,”  says  he,  “a  great  part  of  the  night  upon  the  deck. 
What  deserted  coasts !  not  a  light  to  announce  the  cabin  of  a 
fisherman.  From  Batabano  to  Trinidad,  a  distance  of  fifty 
leagues,  there  does  not  exist  a  village.  Yet  in  the  time  of 
Columbus  this  land  was  inhabited  even  along  the  margin  of  the 
sea.  When  pits  are  digged  in  the  soil,  or  the  torrents  plough 
open  the  surface  of  the  earth,  there  are  often  found  hatchets  of 
stone  and  vessels  of  copper,  relics  of  the  ancient  inhabitants  of 
the  island.”  * 

For  the  greater  part  of  two  days  the  ships  swept  along  this 
open  part  of  the  coast,  traversing  the  wide  Gulf  of  Xagua.  At 
length  they  came  to  where  the  sea  became  suddenly  as  white 
as  milk,  and  perfectly  turbid,  as  though  flour  had  been  mingled 
with  it.  This  is  caused  by  fine  sand,  or  calcareous  particles, 
raised  from  the  bottom  at  certain  depths  by  the  agitation  of  the 
waves  and  currents.  It  spread  great  alarm  through  the  ships, 
which  was  heightened  by  their  soon  finding  themselves  sur¬ 
rounded  by  banks  and  keys,  and  in  shallow  water.  The  far¬ 
ther  they  proceeded,  the  more  perilous  became  their  situation. 
They  were  in  a  narrow  channel,  where  they  had  no  room  to 
turn,  and  to  beat  out;  where  there  was  no  hold  for  their  an¬ 
chors,  and  where  they  were  violently  tossed  about  by  the  winds, 
and  in  danger  of  being  stranded.  At  length  they  came  to  a 
small  island,  where  they  found  tolerable  anchorage.  Here  they 
remained  for  the  night  in  great  anxiety ;  many  were  for  aban¬ 
doning  all  further  prosecution  of  the  enterprise,  thinking  that 
they  might  esteem  themselves  fortunate  should  they  be  able  to 
return  from  whence  they  came.  Columbus,  however,  could 
not  consent  to  relinquish  his  voyage,  now  that  he  thought  him¬ 
self  in  the  route  for  a  brilliant  discovery.  The  next  morning 
he  dispatched  the  smallest  caravel  to  explore  this  new  labyrinth 
of  islands,  and  to  penetrate  to  the  main-land  in  quest  of  fresh 
water,  of  which  the  ships  were  in  great  need.  The  caravel  re¬ 
turned  with  a  report  that  the  canals  and  keys  of  this  group 
were  as  numerous  and  intricate  as  those  of  the  Gardens  of  the 
Queen ;  that  the  main-land  was  bordered  by  deep  marshes  and 
a  muddy  coast,  where  the  mangrove  trees  grew  within  the 


*  Humboldt,  Essai  Pol.  sur  Cuba,  tom.  ii.  p.  35, 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


285 


water,  and  so  close  together  that  they  formed,  as  it  were,  an 
impenetrable  wall ;  that  within,  the  land  appeared  fertile  and 
mountainous ;  and  columns  of  smoke,  rising  from  various  parts, 
gave  signs  of  numerous  inhabitants.*  Under  the  guidance  of 
this  caravel,  Columbus  now  ventured  to  penetrate  this  little 
archipelago;  working  his  way  with  great  caution,  toil,  and 
peril,  among  the  narrow  channels  which  separated  the  sand> 
banks  and  islands,  and  frequently  getting  aground.  At  length 
he  reached  a  low  point  of  Cuba,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of 
Point  Serafin ;  within  which  the  coast  swept  off  to  the  east,; 
forming  so  deep  a  bay  that  he  could  not  see  the  land  at  the  bot¬ 
tom.  To  the  north,  however,  there  were  mountains  afar  off, 
and  the  intermediate  space  was  clear  and  open ;  the  islands  in 
sight  lying  to  the  south  and  west ;  a  description  which  agrees 
with  that  of  the  great  Bay  of  Batabano.  Columbus  now  steered 
for  these  mountains,  with  a  fair  wind  and  three  fathoms  of 
water  and  on  the  following  day  anchored  on  the  coast  near  a 
beautiful  grove  of  palm-trees. 

Here  a  party  was  sent  on  shore  for  wood  and  water ;  and  they 
found  two  living  springs  in  the  midst  of  the  grove.  While  they 
were  employed  in  cutting  wood  and  filling  their  water-casks, 
an  archer  strayed  into  the  forest  with  his  cross-bow  in  search 
of  game,  but  soon  returned,  flying  with  great  terror,  and  call¬ 
ing  loudly  upon  his  companions  for  aid.  He  declared  that  he 
had  not  proceeded  far,  when  he  suddenly  espied,  through  an 
opening  glade,  a  man  in  a  long  white  dress,  so  like  a  friar  of  the 
order  of  St.  Mary  of  Mercy,  that  at  first  sight  he  took  him  for 
the  chaplain  of  the  admiral.  Two  others  followed  in  white 
tunics  reaching  to  their  knees,  and  the  three  were  of  as  fair 
complexions  as  Europeans.  Behind  these  appeared  many  more, 
to  the  number  of  thirty,  armed  with  clubs  and  lances.  They 
made  no  signs  of  hostility,  but  remained  quiet,  the  man  in  the 
long  white  dress  alone  advancing  to  accost  him ;  but  he  was  so 
alarmed  at  their  number  that  he  had  fled  instantly  to  seek  the 
aid  of  his  companions.  The  latter,  however,  were  so  daunted 
by  the  reported  number  of  armed  natives,  that  they  had  not 
courage  to  seek  them  nor  to  wait  their  coming,  but  hurried 
with  all  speed  to  the  ships. 

When  Columbus  heard  this  story  he  was  greatly  rejoiced,  for 
he  concluded  that  these  must  be  the  clothed  inhabitants  of 
Mangon,  of  whom  he  had  recently  heard,  and  that  he  had  at 


*  Cura  de  los  Palacios,  cap.  128,  - 


286 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


length  arrived  at  the  confines  of  a  civilized  country,  if  not  with* 
in  the  very  borders  of  the  rich  province  of  Mangi.  On  the  fol¬ 
lowing  day  he  dispatched  a  party  of  armed  men  in  quest  of  these 
people  clad  in  white,  with  orders  to  penetrate,  if  necessary, 
forty  miles  into  the  interior,  until  they  met  with  some  of  the 
inhabitants ;  for  he  thought  the  populous  and  cultivated  parts 
might  be  distant  from  the  sea,  and  that  there  might  he  towns 
and  cities  beyond  the  woods  and  mountains  of  the  coast.  The 
party  penetrated  through  a  belt  of  thick  forests  which  girdled 
the  shore,  and  then  entered  upon  a  great  plain  or  savanna,  cov¬ 
ered  with  rank  grass  and  herbage  a $  tall  as  ripe  corn,  and  des¬ 
titute  of  any  road  or  footpath.  Here  they  were  so  entangled 
and  fettered,  as  it  were,  by  matted  grass  and  creeping  vegeta¬ 
tion,  that  it  was  with  the  utmost  difficulty  they  could  penetrate 
the  distance  of  a  mile,  when  they  had  to  abandon  the  attempt, 
and  return  weary  and.  exhausted  to  the  ships. 

Another  party  was  sent  on  the  succeeding  day  to  penetrate 
in  a  different  direction.  They  had  not  proceeded  far  from  the 
coast,  when  they  beheld  the  foot-prints  of  some  large  animal 
with  claws,  which  some  supposed  the  tracks  of  a  lion,  others  of 
a  griffon,*  but  which  were  probably  made  by  the  alligators 
which  abound  in  that  vicinity.  Dismayed  at  the  sight,  they 
hastened  back  toward  the  sea-side.  In  their  way  they  passed 
through  a  forest,  with  lawns  and  meadows  opening  in  various 
parts  of  it,  in  which  were  flocks  of  cranes,  twice  the  size  of  those 
of  Europe.  Many  of  the  trees  and  shrubs  sent  forth  those  aro¬ 
matic  odors  which  were  continually  deceiving  them  with  the 
hope  of  finding  Oriental  spices.  They  saw  also  abundance  of 
grape-vines,  that  beautiful  feature  in  the  vegetation  of  the  New 
World.  Many  of  these  crept  to  the  summits  of  the  highest 
trees,  overwhelming  them  with  foliage,  twisting  themselves 
from  branch  to  branch,  and  bearing  ponderous  clusters  of  juicy 
grapes.  The  party  returned  to  the  ships  equally  unsuccessful 
with  their  predecessors,  and  pronounced  the  country  wild  and 
impenetrable,  though  exceedingly  fertile.  As  a  proof  of  its 
abundance,  they  brought  great  clusters  of  the  wild  grapes,  which 
Columbus  afterward  transmitted  to  the  sovereigns,  together 


*  Cardinal  Pierre  de  Aliaco.  a  favorite  author  with  Columbus,  speaks  repeatedly, 
in  his  Imago  Mundi,  of  the  existence  of  griffons  in  India;  and  Glanville,  whose  work, 
De  Proprietatibus  Rerum,  was  familiar  to  Columbus,  describes  them  as  having  the 
body  and  claws  of  a  lion,  and  the  head  and  wings  of  an  eagle,  and  as  infesting  the 
mountains  which  abounded  with  gold  and  precious  stones,  so  as  to  render  the  access 
to  them  extremely  perilous.— De  Proprietat.  Eerum,  lib.  xviii.  cap.  150. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS.  287 

with  a  specimen  of  the  water  of  the  White  Sea  through  which 
he  had  passed. 

As  no  tribe  of  Indians  was  ever  discovered  in  Cuba  wearing 
clothing,  it  is  probable  that  the  story  of  the  men  in  white  orig- 
nated  in  some  error  of  the  archer,  who,  full  of  the  idea  of  the 
mysterious  inhabitants  of  Mangon,  may  have  been  startled  in 
the  course  of  his  lonely  wandering  in  the  forest,  by  one  of 
those  flocks  of  cranes  which  it  seems  abounded  in  the  neighbor¬ 
hood.  These  birds,  like  the  flamingoes,  feed  in  company,  with 
one  stationed  at  a  distance  as  sentinel.  When  seen  through 
the  openings  of  the  woodlands,  standing  in  rows  along  a  smooth 
savanna,  or  in  a  glassy  pool  of  water,  their  height  and  erect¬ 
ness  give  them,  at  the  first  glance,  the  semblance  of  human  fig¬ 
ures.  Whether  the  story  originated  in  error  or  in  falsehood,  it 
made  a  deep  impression  on  the  mind  of  Columbus,  who  was 
predisposed  to  be  deceived,  and  to  believe  everything  that 
favored  the  illusion  of  his  being  in  the  vicinity  of  a  civilized 
country. 

After  he  had  explored  the  deep  bay  to  the  east,  and  ascer¬ 
tained  that  it  was  not  an  arm  of  the  sea,  he  continued  west¬ 
ward,  and  proceeding  about  nine  leagues,  came  to  an  inhabited 
shore,  where  he  had  communications  with  several  of  the  na¬ 
tives.  They  were  naked  as  usual;  but  that  he  attributed  to 
their  being  mere  fishermen  inhabiting  a  savage  coast ;  he  pre¬ 
sumed  the  civilized  regions  to  lie  in  the  interior.  As  his  Lu- 
cayan  interpreter  did  not  understand  the  language,  or  rather 
dialect,  of  this  part  of  Cuba,  all  the  information  which  he 
could  obtain  from  the  natives  was  necessarily  received  through 
the  erroneous  medium  of  signs  and  gesticulations.  Deluded  by 
his  own  favorite  hypothesis,  he  understood  from  them  that, 
among  certain  mountains,  which  he  saw  far  off  to  the  west,  there 
was  a  powerful  king,  who  reigned  in  great  state  over  many 
populous  provinces;  that  he  wore  a  white  garment  which 
swept  the  ground ;  that  he  was  called  a  saint  ;*  that  he  never 
spoke,  but  communicated  his  orders  to  his  subjects  by  signs, 
which  were  implicitly  obeyed.!  In  all  this  we  see  the  busy  im¬ 
agination  of  the  admiral  interpreting  everything  into  unison 
with  his  preconceived  ideas.  Las  Casas  assures  us  that  there 
was  no  cacique  ever  known  in  the  island  who  wore  garments, 


*  Que  le  Llamaban  santo  e  que  traia  tunica  blanca  que  le  arastra  por  el  suelo.— 
Cura  de  los  Palacios,  cap.  128. 
t  Herrera.  Hist.  Ind.  dec,  i.  lib.  ii.  cap.  14, 


288 


LIFE  OF  CUIUS  T  OF  HER  COLUMBUS. 


or  answered  in  other  respects  to  this  description.  This  king, 
with  the  saintly  title,  was  probably  nothing  more  than  a  re' 
fleeted  image  haunting  the  mind  of  Columbus,  of  that  mysteri¬ 
ous  potentate,  Prester  John,  who  had  long  figured  in  the  nar¬ 
rations  of  all  eastern  travellers,  sometimes  as  a  monarch, 
sometimes  as  a  priest,  the  situation  of  whose  empire  and  court 
was  always  a  matter  of  doubt  and  contradiction,  and  had  re¬ 
cently  become  again  an  object  of  curious  inquiry. 

The  information  derived  f  rom  these  people  concerning  the 
coast  to  the  westward  was  entirely  vague.  They  said  that  it 
continued  for  at  least  twenty  days’  journey,  but  whether  it 
terminated  there  they  did  not  know.  They  appeared  but  little 
informed  of  anything  out  of  their  immediate  neighborhood. 
Taking  an  Indian  from  this  place  as  a  guide,  Columbus  steered 
xor  the  distant  mountains  said  to  be  inhabited  by  this  cacique 
in  white  raiment,  hoping  they  might  prove  the  confines  of  a 
more  civilized  country.  He  had  not  gone  far  before  he  was 
involved  in  the  usual  perplexities  of  keys,  shelves,  and  sand¬ 
banks.  The  vessels  frequently  stirred  up  the  sand  and  shme 
from  the  bottom  of  the  sea ;  at  other  times  they  were  almost 
imbedded  in  narrow  channels,  where  there  was  no  room  to  tack, 
and  it  was  necessary  to  haul  them  forward  by  means  of  the 
capstan,  to  their  great  injury.  At  one  time  they  came  to 
where  the  sea  was  almost  covered  with  tortoises ;  at  another 
time  flights  of  cormorants  and  wood-pigeons  darkened  the  sun, 
and  one  day  the  whole  air  was  filled  with  clouds  of  gaudy  but¬ 
terflies,  until  dispelled  by  the  evening  shower. 

When  they  approached  the  mountainous  regions,  they  found 
the  coast  bordered  by  drowned  lands  or  morasses,  and  beset  by 
such  thick  forests  that  it  was  impossible  to  penetrate  to  the  in¬ 
terior.  They  were  several  days  seeking  fresh  water,  of  which 
they  were  in  great  want.  At  length  they  found  a  spring  in  a 
grove  of  palm-trees,  and  near  it  shells  of  the  pearl-oyster,  from 
which  Columbus  thought  there  might  be  a  valuable  pearl-fish¬ 
ery  in  the  neighborhood. 

While  thus  cut  off  from  all  intercourse  with  the  interior  by  a 
belt  of  swamp  and  forests,  the  country  appeared  to  be  well  peo¬ 
pled.  Columns  of  smoke  ascended  from  various  parts,  which 
grew  more  frequent  as  the  vessels  advanced,  until  they  rose  from 
every  rock  and  wo@dy  height.  The  Spaniards  were  at  a  loss  to 
determine  whether  these  arose  from  villages  and  towns,  or 
whether  from  signal  fires,  to  give  notice  of  the  approach  of  the 
ships,  and  to  alarm  the  country,  such  as  were  usual  on  Europe- 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  CO  LEHR  US.  289 

an  sea-shores,  when  an  enemy  was  descried  hovering  in  the 
vicinity. 

For  several  days  Columbus  continued  exploring  this  per¬ 
plexed  and  lonely  coast,  whose  intricate  channels  are  seldom 
visited,  even  at  the  present  day,  excepting  by  the  solitary  and 
lurking  bark  of  the  smuggler.  As  he  proceeded,  however,  he 
found  that  the  coast  took  a  general  bend  to  the  south-west. 
This  accorded  precisely  with  the  descriptions  given  by  Marco 
Polo  of  the  remote  coast  of  Asia.  He  now  became  fully  as¬ 
sured  that  he  was  on  that  part  of  the  Asiatic  continent  which 
is  beyond  the  boundaries  of  the  Old  World  as  laid  down  by 
Ptolemy.  Let  him  but  continue  this  coast,  he  thought,  and  he 
must  surely  arrive  to  the  point  where  this  range  of  coast  ter¬ 
minated  in  the  Aurea  Chersonesus  of  the  ancients.* 

The  ardent  imagination  of  Columbus  was  always  sallying  in 
the  advance,  and  suggesting  some  splendid  track  of  enterprise. 
Combining  his  present  conjectures  as  to  his  situation  with  the 
imperfect  lights  of  geography,  he  conceived  a  triumphant  route 
for  his  return  to  Spain.  Doubling  the  Aurea  Chersonesus,  he 
should  emerge  into  the  seas  frequented  by  the  ancients,  and 
bordered  by  the  luxurious  nations  of  the  East.  Stretching 
across  the  Gulf  of  the  Ganges,  he  might  pass  by  Taprobana, 
and  continuing  on  to  the  straits  of  Babclmandel,  arrive  on  the 
shores  of  the  Red  Sea.  Thence  he  might  make  his  way  by  land 
to  Jerusalem,  taking  shipping  at  Joppa,  and  traverse  the  Medi¬ 
terranean  to  Spain.  Or  should  the  route  from  Ethiopia  to 
Jerusalem  be  deemed  too  perilous  from  savage  and  warlike 
tribes,  or  should  he  not  choose  to  separate  from  his  vessels,  he 
might  sail  round  the  whole  coast  of  Africa,  pass  triumphantly 
by  the  Portuguese,  in  their  midway  groping  along  the  shores  of 
Guinea,  and  after  having  thus  circumnavigated  the  globe,  furl 
his  adventurous  sails  at  the  Pillars  of  Hercules,  the  ne  plus  ultra 
of  the  ancient  world!  Such  was  the  soaring  meditation  of 
Columbus,  as  recorded  by  one  of  his  intimate  associates ;  t  nor 
is  there  anything  surprising  in  his  ignorance  of  the  real  magni¬ 
tude  of  our  globe.  The  mechanical  admeasurement  of  a  known 
part  of  its  circle  has  rendered  its  circumference  a  familiar  fact 
in  our  day ;  but  in  his  time  it  still  remained  a  problem  with  the 
most  profound  philosophers. 


*  The  present  peninsula  of  Malacca. 


t  Cura  de  los  Palacois,  cap.  123,  m.s. 


290 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


CHAPTER  V. 

RETURN  OP  COLUMBUS  ALONG  THE  SOUTHERN  COAST  OF  CUBA. 

[1494.] 

The  opinion  of  Columbus,  that  he  was  coasting  the  continent 
of  Asia,  and  approaching  the  confines  of  eastern  civilization, 
was  shared  by  all  his  fellow-voyagers,  among  whom  were 
several  able  and  experienced  navigators.  They  were  far,  how¬ 
ever,  from  sharing  his  enthusiasm.  They  were  to  derive  no 
glory  from  the  success  of  the  enterprise,  and  they  shrunk  from 
its  increasing  difficulties  and  perils.  The  ships  were  strained 
and  crazed  by  the  various  injuries  they  had  received,  in  run¬ 
ning  frequently  aground.  Their  cables  and  rigging  were  worn, 
their  provisions  were  growing  scanty,  a  great  part  of  the 
biscuit  was  spoiled  by  the  sea-water,  which  oozed  in  through 
innumerable  leaks.  The  crews  were  worn  out  by  incessant 
labor,  and  disheartened  at  the  appearance  of  the  sea  before 
them,  which  continued  to  exhibit  a  mere  wilderness  of  islands. 
They  remonstrated,  therefore,  against  persisting  any  longer  in 
this  voyage.  They  had  already  followed  the  coast  far  enough 
to  satisfy  their  minds  that  it  was  a  continent,  and  though  they 
doubted  not  that  civilized  regions  lay  in  the  route  they  were 
pursuing,  yet  their  provisions  might  be  exhausted,  and  their 
vessels  disabled,  before  they  could  arrive  at  them. 

Columbus,  as  his  imagination  cooled,  was  himself  aware  of 
the  inadequacy  of  his  vessels  to  the  contemplated  voyage ;  but 
felt  it  of  importance  to  his  fame  and  to  the  popularity  of  his 
enterprises,  to  furnish  satisfactory  proofs  that  the  land  he  had 
discovered  was  a  continent,  tie  therefore  persisted  four  days 
longer  in  exploring  the  coast,  as  it  bent  to  the  south-west,  until 
every  one  declared  there  could  no  longer  be  a  doubt  on  the  sub¬ 
ject,  for  it  was  impossible  so  vast  a  continuity  of  land  should 
belong  to  a  mere  island.  The  admiral  was  determined,  how¬ 
ever,  that  the  fact  should  not  rest  on  his  own  assertion  merely, 
having  had  recent  proofs  of  a  disposition  to  gainsay  his  state¬ 
ments,  and  depreciate  his  discoveries.  He  sent  round,  there¬ 
fore,  a  public  notary,  Fernand  Perez  de  Luna,  to  each  of  the 
vessels,  accompanied  by  four  witnesses,  who  demanded  formally 
of  every  person  on  board,  from  the  captain  to  the  ship-boy, 


LIFE  OF  CHRIS  TO  PEER  COLUMBUS. 


291 

wt ether  lie  had  any  doubt  that  the  land  before  him  was  a  con¬ 
tinent,  the  beginning  and  end  of  the  Indies,  by  which  any  one 
might  return  overland  to  Spain,  and  by  pursuing  the  coast  of 
Which,  they  could  soon  arrive  among  civilized  people.  If  any 
one  entertained  a  doubt,  he  was  called  upon  to  express  it,  that  it 
might  be  removed.  On  board  of  the  vessels,  as  has  been  observed, 
were  several  experienced  navigators  and  men  well  versed  in 
the  geographical  knowledge  of  the  times.  They  examined  their 
maps  and  charts,  and  the  reckonings  and  journals  of  the  voy¬ 
age,  and  after  deliberating  maturely,  declared,  under  oath, 
that  they  had  no  doubt  upon  the  subject.  They  grounded  their 
belief  principally  upon  their  having  coasted  for  three  hundred 
and  thirty-five  leagues,*  an  extent  unheard  of  as  appertaining 
to  an  island,  while  the  land  continued  to  stretch  forward  inter¬ 
minably,  bending  toward  the  south,  conformably  to  the  descrip¬ 
tion  of  the  remote  coasts  of  India. 

Lest  they  should  subsequently,  out  of  malice  or  caprice,  con¬ 
tradict  the  opinion  thus  solemnly  avowed,  it  was  proclaimed  by 
the  notary,  that  whoever  should  offend  in  such  manner,  if  an 
officer,  should  pay  a  penalty  of  ten  thousand  maravedies ;  if  a 
ship-boy  or  person  of  like  rank,  he  should  receive  a  hundred 
lashes,  and  have  his  tongue  cut  out.  A  formal  statement  was 
afterward  drawn  up  by  the  notary,  including  the  depositions 
and  names  of  every  individual;  which  document  still  exists. f 
This  singular  process  took  place  near  that  deep  bay  called  by 
some  the  Bay  of  Philipina,  by  others  of  Cortes.  At  this  very 
tune,  as  has  been  remarked,  a  ship-boy  from  the  masthead  might 
have  overlooked  the  group  of  islands  to  the  south,  and  beheld 
the  open  sea  beyond.  \  Two  or  three  days’  further  sail  would 
have  carried  Columbus  round  the  extremity  of  Cuba;  would 
have  dispelled  his  illusion,  and  might  have  given  an  entirely 
different  course  to  his  subsequent  discoveries.  In  Ms  present 
conviction  he  lived  and  died ;  believing,  to  his  last  hour,  that 
Cuba  was  the  extremity  of  the  Asiatic  continent. 

Relinquishing  all  further  investigation  of  the  coast,  he  stood 
on  the  south-east  on  the  13th  of  June,  and  soon  came  in  sight 
of  a  large  island  with  mountains  rising  majestically  among  this 


*  This  calculation  evidently  includes  all  the  courses  of  the  ships  in  their  various 
tacks  along  the  coast.  Columbus  could  hardly  have  made  such  an  error  as  to  have 
given  this  extent  to  the  southern  side  of  the  island,  even  including  the  in  Hectic  ns 
of  the  coast. 

+  Navarrete,  Collec.,  tom  ii. 

t  Mufioz,  Hist.  N.  Mundo,  lib.  v.  p.  217% 


292 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


labyrinth  of  little  keys.  To  this  he  gave  the  name  of  Evangel¬ 
ista.  It  is  at  present  known  as  the  Island  of  Pines,  and  is 
celebrated  for  its  excellent  mahogany. 

Here  he  anchored,  and  took  in  a  supply  of  wood  and  water. 
He  then  stood  to  the  south,  along  the  shores  of  the  island, 
hoping  by  turning  its  southern  extremity  to  find  an  open  route 
eastward  for  Hispaniola,  and  intending,  on  his  way,  to  run 
along  the  southern  side  of  Jamaica.  He  had  not  proceeded  far 
before  he  came  to  what  he  supposed  to  be  a  channel,  opening 
to  the  south-east  between  Evangelista  and  some  opposite  island. 
After  entering  for  some  distance,  however,  he  found  himself 
inclosed  in  a  deep  bay,  being  the  Lagoon  of  Siguanca,  which 
penetrates  far  into  the  island. 

Observing  dismay  painted  on  the  faces  of  his  crew  at  finding 
themselves  thus  land-locked  and  almost  destitute  of  provisions, 
Columbus  cheered  them  with  encouraging  words,  and  resolved 
to  extricate  himself  from  this  perplexing  maze  by  retracing  his 
course  along  Cuba.  Leaving  the  lagoon,  therefore,  he  returned 
to  his  last  anchoring  place,  and  set  sail  thence  on  the  25th  of 
June,  navigating  back  through  the  groups  of  islands  between 
Evangelista  and  Cuba,  and  across  a  tract  of  the  White  Sea, 
which  had  so  much  appalled  his  people.  Here  he  experienced 
a  repetition  of  the  anxieties,  perils,  and  toils  which  had  beset 
him  in  his  advance  along  the  coast.  The  crews  were  alarmed  by 
the  frequent  changes  in  the  color  of  the  water,  sometimes  green, 
sometimes  almost  black,  at  other  times  as  white  as  milk ;  at  one 
time  they  fancied  themselves  surrounded  by  rocks,  at  another 
the  sea  appeared  to  be  a  vast  sand-bank.  On  the  30th  of  June 
the  admiral’s  ship  ran  aground  with  such  violence  as  to  sustain 
great  injury.  Every  effort  to  extricate  her  by  sending  out 
anchors  astern  was  ineffectual,  and  it  was  necessary  to  drag 
her  over  the  shoal  by  the  prow.  At  length  they  emerged  from 
the  clusters  of  islands  called  the  Jardins  and  Jardinelles,  and 
came  to  the  open  part  of  the  coast  of  Cuba.  Here  they 
once  more  sailed  along  the  beautiful  and  fertile  province  of 
Ornofay,  and  were  again  delighted  with  fragrant  and  honeyed 
airs  wafted  from  the  land.  Among  the  mingled  odors,  the 
admiral  fancied  he  could  perceive  that  of  storax  proceeding 
from  the  smoke  of  fires  blazing  on  the  shores.* 


♦Humboldt  (in  his  Essai  Polit.,  toon.  ii.  p.  24)  speaks  of  the  fragrance  of  flowers 
and  honey  which  exhales  from  this  same  coast,  and  which  is  perceptible  to  a  con¬ 
siderable  distance  at  sea. 


LIFE  OF  CHRiSTOPAEk  COLUMBUS. 


293 


Here  Columbus  sought  some  convenient  harbor  where  he 
might  procure  wood  and  water,  and  allow  his  crews  to  enjey 
repose  and  the  recreations  of  the  land ;  for  they  were  exceed¬ 
ingly  enfeebled  and  emaciated  by  the  toils  and  privations  of 
the  voyage.  For  nearly  two  months  they  had  been  struggling 
with  perpetual  difficulties  and  dangers,  and  suffering  from  a 
scarcity  of  provisions.  Among  these  uninhabited  keys  and 
drowned  shores,  their  supplies  from  the  natives  had  been  pre¬ 
carious  and  at  wide  intervals ;  nor  could  the  fresh  provisions 
thus  furnished  last  above  a  day,  from  the  heat  and  humidity 
of  the  climate.  It  was  the  same  case  with  any  fish  they  might 
chance  to  catch,  so  that  they  had  to  depend  almost  entirely 
upon  their  daily  allowance  of  ships’  provisions,  which  was 
reduced  to  a  pound  of  mouldy  bread  and  a  small  portion  of 
wine.  With  joy,  therefore,  they  anchored  on  the  7th  of  July  in 
the  mouth  of  a  fine  river,  in  this  genial  and  abimdant  region. 
The  cacique  of  the  neighborhood,  who  reigned  over  an  exten¬ 
sive  territory,  received  the  admiral  with  demonstrations  of 
mingled  joy  and  reverence,  and  his  subjects  came  laden  with 
whatever  their  country  afforded — utias,  birds  of  various  kinds, 
particularly  large  pigeons,  cassava  bread,  and  fruits  of  a  rich 
and  aromatic  flavor. 

It  was  a  custom  with  Columbus,  in  all  remarkable  places 
which  he  visited,  to  erect  crosses  in  conspicuous  situations,  to 
denote  the  discovery  of  the  country,  and  its  subjugation  to  the 
true  faith.  He  ordered  a  large  cross  of  wood,  therefore,  to  be 
elevated  on  the  bank  of  this  river.  This  was  done  on  a  Sunday 
morning  with  great  ceremony,  and  the  celebration  of  a  solemn 
mass.  When  he  disembarked  for  this  purpose,  he  was  met 
upon  the  shore  by  the  cacique  and  his  principal  favorite,  a 
venerable  Indian,  fourscore  years  of  age,  of  grave  and  dignified 
deportment.  The  old  man  brought  a  string  of  beads,  of  a  kind 
to  which  the  Indians  attached  a  mystic  value,  and  a  calabash 
of  a  delicate  kind  of  fruit ;  these  he  presented  to  the  admiral  in 
token  of  amity.  He  and  the  cacique  then  each  took  him  by 
the  hand  and  proceeded  with  him  to  the  grove,  where  prepara¬ 
tions  had  been  made  for  the  celebraticn  of  the  mass ;  a  multi¬ 
tude  of  the  natives  followed.  While  mass  was  performing  in 
this  natural  temple,  the  Indians  looked  on  with  awe  and  rev¬ 
erence,  perceiving  from  the  tones  and  gesticulations  of  the 
priest,  the  lighted  tapers,  the  smoking  incense,  and  the  devo¬ 
tion  of  the  Spaniards,  that  it  must  be  a  ceremony  of  a  sacred 
and  mysterious  nature.  When  the  service  was  ended,  the  old 


294 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


man  of  fourscore,  who  had  contemplated  it  with  profound 
attention,  approached  Columbus,  and  made  him  an  oration  in 
the  Indian  manner. 

“This  which  thou  hast  been  doing,”  said  he,  “is  well,  for  it 
appears  to  be  thy  manner  of  giving  thanks  to  God.  I  am  told 
that  thou  hast  lately  come  to  these  lands  with  a  mighty  force, 
and  subdued  many  countries,  spreading  great  fear  among  tho 
people;  but  be  not,  therefore,  vain-glorious.  Know  that, 
according  to  our  belief,  the  souls  of  men  have  two  journeys  to 
perform  after  they  have  departed  from  the  body.  One  to  a 
place,  dismal,  and  foul,  and  covered  with  darkness,  prepared 
for  those  who  have  been  unjust  and  cruel  to  their  fellow-men ; 
the  other  pleasant  and  full  of  delight,  for  such  as  have  promoted 
peace  on  earth.  If,  then,  thou  art  mortal  and  dost  expect  to 
die,  and  dost  believe  that  each  man  shall  be  rewarded  accord¬ 
ing  to  his  deeds,  beware  that  thou  wrongfully  hurt  no  man, 
nor  do  harm  to  those  who  have  done  no  harm  to  thee.  ”  *  The 
admiral,  to  whom  this  speech  was  explained  by  his  Lucayan 
interpreter,  Diego  Colon,  was  greatly  moved  by  the  simple 
eloquence  of  this  untutored  savage.  He  told  him  in  reply  that 
he  rejoiced  to  hear  hi»  doctrine  respecting  the  future  state  of 
the  soul,  having  supposed  that  no  belief  of  the  kind  existed 
among  the  inhabitants  of  these  countries.  That  he  had  been 
sent  among  them  by  his  sovereigns,  to  teach  them  the  true 
religion ;  to  protect  them  from  harm  and  injury ;  and  especially 
to  subdue  and  punish  their  enemies  and  persecutors,  the  canni¬ 
bals.  That,  therefore,  all  innocent  and  peaceable  men  might 
look  up  to  him  with  confidence,  as  an  assured  friend  and  pro¬ 
tector. 

The  old  man  was  overjoyed  at  these  words,  but  was  equally 
astonished  to  learn  that  the  admiral,  whom  he  considered  so 
great  and  powerful,  was  yet  but  a  subject.  His  wonder  in¬ 
creased  when  the  interpreter  told  him  of  the  riches,  and  splen¬ 
dor,  and  power  of  the  Spanish  monarchs,  and  of  the  wonderful 
things  he  had  beheld  on  his  visit  to  Spain.  Finding  himself 
listened  to  with  eager  curiosity  by  the  multitude,  the  interpre¬ 
ter  went  on  to  describe  the  objects  which  had  most  struck  his 
mind  in  the  country  of  the  white  men.  The  splendid  cities,  the 
vast  churches,  the  troops  of  horsemen,  the  great  animals  of 
various  kinds,  the  pompous  festivals  and  tournaments  of  the 


♦Herrera,  decad.  i.  lib.  xi.  cap.  14.  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  57.  Peter  Martyr’ 
decad.  i.  lib.  iii.  Cura  de  los.Palacios,  cap.  130. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


295 


court,  the  glittering  armies,  and,  above  all,  the  bull-fights. 
The  Indians  all  listened  in  mute  amazement,  but  the  old  man 
was  particularly  excited.  He  was  of  a  curious  and  wandering 
disposition,  and  had  been  a  great  voyager,  having  according  to 
his  account,  visited  Jamaica,  and  Hispaniola,  and  the  remote 
parts  of  Cuba.*  A  sudden  desire  now  seized  him  to  behold  the 
glorious  country  thus  described,  and,  old  as  he  was,  he  offered 
to  embark  with  the  admiral.  His  wife  and  children,  however, 
beset  him  with  such  lamentations  and  remonstrances,  that  he 
was  obliged  to  abandon  the  intention,  though  he  did  it  with 
great  reluctance,  asking  repeatedly  if  the  land  they  spoke  of 
were  not  heaven,  for  it  seemed  to  him  impossible  that  earth 
could  produce  such  wonderful  beings,  f 


CHAPTER  YI. 

COASTING  VOYAGE  ALONG  THE  SOUTH  SIDE  OF  JAMAICA. 

[1494.] 

Columbus  remained  for  several  days  at  anchor  in  the  river, 
to  which,  from  the  mass  performed  on  its  banks,  he  gave  the 
name  of  Rio  de  la  Misa.  At  length,  on  the  16th  of  July,  he 
took  leave  of  the  friendly  cacique  and  his  ancient  counsellor, 
who  beheld  his  departure  with  sorrowful  countenances.  He 
took  a  young  Indian  with  him  from  this  place,  whom  he  after¬ 
ward  sent  to  the  Spanish  sovereigns.  Leaving  to  the  left  the 
Queen’s  Gardens,  he  steered  south  for  the  broad  open  sea  and 
deep  blue  water,  until  having  a  free  navigation  he  could  stand 
eastward  for  Hispaniola.  He  had  scarcely  got  clear  of  the 
islands,  however,  when  he  was  assailed  by  furious  gusts  of 
wind  and  rain,  which  for  two  days  pelted  his  crazy  vessels,  and 
harassed  his  enfeebled  crews.  At  length,  as  he  approached 
Cape  Cruz,  a  violent  squall  struck  the  ships,  and  nearly  threw 
them  on  their  beam  ends.  Fortunately  they  were  able  to  take 
in  sail  immediately,  and,  letting  go  their  largest  anchors,  rode 
out  the  transient  gale.  The  admiral’s  ship  was  so  strained  by 


*  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  57. 
t  Peter  Martyr,  decad.  i.  lib.  iii. 


296 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


the  injuries  received  among  the  islands,  that  she  leaked  at 
every  seam,  and  the  utmost  exertions  of  the  weary  crew  could 
not  prevent  the  water  from  gaining  on  her.  At  length  they 
were  enabled  to  reach  Cape  Cruz,  where  they  anchored  on  the 
18th  of  July,  and  remained  three  days,  receiving  the  same  hos¬ 
pitable  succor  from  the  natives  that  they  had  experienced  on 
their  former  visit.  The  wind  continuing  contrary  for  the  re¬ 
turn  to  Hispaniola,  Columbus,  on  the  22d  of  July,  stood  across 
for  Jamaica,  to  complete  the  circumnavigation  of  that  island. 
For  nearly  a  month  he  continued  beating  to  the  eastward  along 
its  southern  coast,  experiencing  just  such  variable  winds  and 
evening  showers  as  had  prevailed  along  the  shores  of  Cuba. 
Every  evening  he  was  obliged  to  anchor  under  the  land,  often 
at  nearly  the  same  place  whence  he  had  sailed  in  the  morning. 
The  natives  no  longer  manifested  hostility,  but  followed  the 
ships  in  their  canoes,  bringing  supplies  of  provisions.  Colum¬ 
bus  was  so  much  delighted  with  the  verdure,  freshness,  and 
fertility  of  this  noble  island,  that,  had  the  state  of  his  vessels 
and  crews  permitted,  he  would  gladly  have  remained  to  explore 
the  interior.  He  spoke  with  admiration  of  its  frequent  and  ex¬ 
cellent  harbors,  but  was  particularly  pleased  with  a  great  bay, 
containing  seven  islands,  and  surrounded  by  numerous  vil¬ 
lages.*  Anchoring  here  one  evening,  he  was  visited  by  a 
cacique  who  resided  in  a  large  village,  situated  on  an  eminence 
of  the  loftiest  and  most  fertile  of  the  islands.  He  came  attend¬ 
ed  by  a  numerous  train,  bearing  refreshments,  and  manifested 
great  curiosity  in  his  inquiries  concerning  the  Spaniards,  their 
ships,  and  the  region  whence  they  came.  The  admiral  made 
his  customary  reply,  setting  forth  the  great  power  and  the  be¬ 
nign  intentions  of  the  Spanish  sovereigns.  The  Lucayan  in¬ 
terpreter  again  enlarged  upon  the  wonders  he  had  beheld  in 
Spain,  the  prowess  of  the  Spaniards,  the  countries  they  had 
visited  and  subjugated,  and,  above  all,  their  having  made  de¬ 
scents  on  the  islands  of  the  Caribs,  routed  their  formidable 
inhabitants,  and  carried  several  of  them  into  captivity.  To 
these  accounts  the  cacique  and  his  followers  remained  listening 
in  profound  attention  until  the  night  was  advanced. 

The  next  morning  the  ships  were  under  way  and  standing 
along  the  coast  with  a  light  wind  and  easy  sail,  when  they  be¬ 
held  three  canoes  issuing  from  among  the  islands  of  the  bay. 


*  From  the  description,  this  must  be  the  great  bay  east  Of  Portland  Poipt,  at  thfi 
\30ttom  of  which,  is  Old  Harbor , 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


297 


They  approached  in  regular  order ;  one,  which  was  very  large 
and  handsomely  carved  and  painted,  was  in  the  centre,  a  little 
in  advance  of  the  two  other,  which  appeared  to  attend  and 
guard  it. 

In  this  was  seated  the  cacique  and  his  family,  consisting  of 
his  wife,  two  daughters,  two  sons,  and  five  brothers.  One  of 
the  daughters  was  eighteen  years  of  age,  beautiful  in  form  and 
countenance;  her  sister  was  somewhat  younger;  both  were 
naked,  according  to  the  custom  of  these  islands,  but  were  of 
modest  demeanor.  In  the  prow  of  the  canoe  stood  the  standard- 
bearer  of  the  cacique,  clad  in  a  mantle  of  variegated  feathers, 
with  a  tuft  of  gay  plumes  on  his  head,  and  bearing  in  his  hand 
a  fluttering  white  banner.  Two  Indians  with  caps  or  helmets 
of  feathers  of  uniform  shape  and  color,  and  their  faces  painted 
in  a  similar  manner,  beat  upon  tabors ;  two  others,  with  hats 
curiously  wrought  of  green  feathers,  held  trumpets  of  a  fine 
black  wood,  ingeniously  carved ;  there  were  six  others,  in  large 
hats  of  white  feathers,  who  appeared  to  be  guards  to  the 
cacique. 

Having  arrived  alongside  of  the  admiral’s  ship,  the  cacique 
entered  on  board  with  all  his  train.  He  appeared  in  full  regalia. 
Around  his  head  was  a  band  of  small  stones  of  various  colors, 
but  principally  green,  symmetrically  arranged,  with  large 
white  stones  at  intervals,  and  connected  in  front  by  a  large 
jewel  of  gold.  Two  plates  of  gold  were  suspended  to  his  ears 
by  rings  of  very  small  green  stones.  To  a  necklace  of  white 
beads,  of  a  kind  deemed  precious  by  them,  was  suspended  a 
large  plate,  in  the  form  of  a  fleur-de-lis,  of  guanin,  an  inferior 
species  of  gold ;  and  a  girdle  of  variegated  stones,  similar  to 
those  round  his  head,  completed  his  regal  decorations.  His 
wife  was  adorned  in  a  similar  manner,  having  also  a  very  small 
apron  of  cotton,  and  bands  of  the  same  round  her  arms  and 
legs.  The  daughters  were  without  ornaments,  excepting  the 
eldest  and  handsomest,  who  had  a  girdle  of  small  stones,  from 
which  was  suspended  a  tablet,  the  size  of  an  ivy  leaf,  composed 
of  various  colored  stones,  embroidered  on  network  of  cotton. 

When  the  cacique  entered  on  board  the  ship,  he  distributed 
presents  of  the  productions  of  his  island  among  the  officers  and 
men.  The  admiral  was  at  this  time  in  his  cabin,  engaged  in 
his  morning  devotions.  When  he  appeared  on  deck,  the  chief¬ 
tain  hastened  to  meet  him  with  an  animated  countenance. 
“My  friend,”  said  he,  “I  have  determined  to  leave  my  coun¬ 
try,  and  to  accompany  thee.  I  have  heard  from  these  Indians 


298 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


who  are  with  thee  of  the  irresistible  power  of  thy  sovereigns, 
and  of  the  many  nations  thou  hast  subdued  in  their  name. 
Whoever  refuses  obedience  to  thee  is  sure  to  suffer.  Thou  hast 
destroyed  the  canoes  and  dwellings  of  the  Caribs,  slaying  their 
warriors,  and  carrying  into  captivity  their  wives  and  children. 
All  the  islands  are  in  dread  of  thee ;  for  who  can  withstand 
thee  now  that  thou  knowest  the  secrets  of  the  land,  and  the 
weakness  of  the  people.  Rather,  therefore,  than  thou  shouldst 
take  away  my  dominions  I  will  embark  with  all  my  household 
in  thy  ships,  and  will  go  to  do  homage  to  thy  king  and  queen, 
and  to  behold  their  country,  of  which  thy  Indians  relate  such 
wonders.  ”  When  this  speech  was  explained  to  Columbus,  and 
he  beheld  the  wife,  the  sons  and  daughters  of  the  cacique,  and 
thought  upon  the  snares  to  which  their  ignorance  and  sim¬ 
plicity  would  be  exposed,  he  was  touched  with  compassion  and 
determined  not  to  take  them  from  their  native  land.  He  re¬ 
plied  to  the  cacique,  therefore,  that  he  received  him  under  his 
protection  as  a  vassal  of  his  sovereigns,  but  having  many  lands 
yet  to  visit  before  he  returned  to  his  country,  he  would  at 
some  future  time  fulfil  his  desire.  Then  taking  leave  with 
many  expressions  of  amity,  the  cacique,  with  his  wife  and 
daughters,  and  all  his  retinue,  re-embarked  in  the  canoes,  re¬ 
turning  reluctantly  to  their  island,  and  the  ships  continued  on 
their  course.* 


*  Hitherto,  in  narrating  the  voyage  of  Columbus  along  the  coast  of  Cuba,  I  have 
been  guided  principally  by  the  manuscript  history  of  the  curate  de  los  Palacios. 
His  account  is  the  most  clear  and  satisfactory  as  to  names,  dates,  and  routes,  and 
contains  many  characteristic  particulars  not  inserted  in  any  other  history.  His 
sources  of  information  were  of  the  highest  kind.  Columbus  was  his  guest  after  his 
return  to  Spain  in  1496,  and  left  with  him  manuscripts,  journals,  and  memorandums; 
from  these  he  made  extracts,  collating  them  with  the  letters  of  Doctor  Chanca,  and 
other  persons  of  note  who  had  accompanied  the  admiral. 

I  have  examined  two  copies  of  the  ms.  of  the  curate  de  los  Palacios,  both  in  the 
possession  of  O.  Rich,  Esq.  One  written  in  an  ancient  handwriting,  in  the  early 
pai  t  of  the  sixteenth  century,  varies  from  the  other,  but  only  in  a  few  trivial  pai* 
ticulars. 


1 


LIFE  OF  CHRIS  TO  PEER  COLUMBUS. 


299 


CHAPTER  VII. 

VOYAGE  ALONG  THE  SOUTH  SIDE  OF  HISPANIOLA,  AND  RETURN 

TO  ISABELLA. 

[1494.] 

On  the  19th  of  August  Columbus  lost  sight  of  the  eastern 
extremity  of  Jamaica,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  Cape 
Farol,  at  present  called  Point  Morant.  Steering  eastward,  he 
beheld,  on  the  following  day,  that  long  peninsula  of  Hispan¬ 
iola,  known  by  the  name  of  Cape  Tiburon,  but  to  which  he 
gave  the  name  of  Cape  San  Miguel.  He  was  not  aware  that  it 
was  a  part  of  the  island  of  Hayti,  until,  coasting  along  its 
southern  side,  a  cacique  came  off  on  the  23d  of  August,  and 
called  him  by  his  title,  addressing  him  with  several  words  of 
Castilian.  The  sound  of  these  words  spread  joy  through  the 
ship,  and  the  weary  seamen  heard  with  delight  that  they  were 
on  the  southern  coast  of  Hispaniola.  They  had  still,  however, 
many  toilsome  days  before  them.  The  weather  was  boisterous, 
the  wind  contrary  and  capricious,  and  the  ships  were  sepa¬ 
rated  from  each  other.  About  the  end  of  August  Columbus 
anchored  at  a  small  island,  or  rather  rock,  which  rises  singly 
out  of  the  sea  opposite  to  a  long  cape,  stretching  southward 
from  the  centre  of  the  island,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of 
Cape  Beata.  The  rock  at  which  he  anchored  had  the  appear¬ 
ance,  at  a  distance,  of  a  tall  ship  under  sail,  from  which  cir¬ 
cumstance  the  admiral  called  it  “  Alto  Velo.”  Several  seamen 
were  ordered  to  climb  to  the  top  of  the  island,  which  com¬ 
manded  a  great  extent  of  ocean,  and  to  look  out  for  the  other 
ships.  Nothing  of  them  was  to  be  seen.  On  their  return  the 
sailors  killed  eight  sea-wolves,  which  were  sleeping  on  the 
sands ;  they  also  knocked  down  many  pigeons  and  other  birds 
with  sticks,  and  took  others  with  the  hand ;  for  in  this  unfre¬ 
quented  island,  the  animals  seemed  to  have  none  of  that  wild¬ 
ness  and  timidity  produced  by  the  hostility  of  man. 

Being  rejoined  by  the  two  caravels,  he  continued  along  the 
coast,  passing  the  beautiful  country  watered  by  the  branches 
Neyva,  where  a  fertile  plain,  covered  with  villages  and  groves, 
extended  into  the  interior.  After  proceeding  some  distance 
farther  to  the  east,  the  admiral  learnt  from  the  natives  who 
came  off  to  the  ships  that  several  Spaniards  from  the  settle¬ 
ment  had  penetrated  to  their  province.  From  all  that  he 
could  learn  from  these  people,  everything  appeared  to  be  going 


300 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


on  well  in  the  island.  Encouraged  by  the  tranquillity  of  the 
interior,  he  landed  nine  men  here,  with  orders  to  traverse  the 
island,  and  give  tidings  of  his  safe  arrival  on  the  coast. 

Continuing  to  the  eastward,  he  sent  a  boat  on  shore  for 
water  near  a  large  village  ^  plain.  The  inhabitants  issued 
forth  with  bows  and  arrows  to  give  battle,  while  others  were 
provided  with  cords  to  bind  prisoners.  These  were  the  natives 
of  Higuey,  the  eastern  province  of  Hispaniola.  They  were  the 
most  warlike  people  of  the  island,  having  been  inured  to  arms 
from  the  frequent  descent  of  tk  Caribs.  They  were  said  also 
to  make  use  of  poisoned  arrows.  In  the  present  instance,  their 
hostility  was  but  in  appearance.  When  the  crew  landed,  they 
threw  by  their  weapons,  and  brought  various  articles  of  food, 
and  asked  for  the  admiral,  whose  fame  had  spread  throughout 
the  island,  and  in  whose  justice  and  magnanimity  all  appeared 
to  repose  confidence.  After  leaving  this  place,  the  weather, 
which  had  been  so  long  variable  and  adverse,  assumed  a 
threatenmg  appearance.  A  huge  fish,  as  large  as  a  moderate¬ 
sized  whale,  raised  itself  out  of  the  water  one  day,  having  a 
shell  on  its  neck  like  that  of  a  tortoise,  two  great  fins  like 
wings,  and  a  tail  like  that  of  a  tunny  fish.  At  sight  of  this  fish 
and  at  the  indications  of  the  clouds  and  sky,  Columbus  antici¬ 
pated  an  approaching  storm,  and  sought  for  some  secure  har¬ 
bor.*  He  found  a  channel  opening  between  Hispaniola  and  a 
small  island,  called  by  the  Indians  Adamaney,  but  to  which  he 
gave  the  name  of  Saona ;  here  he  took  refuge,  anchoring  beside 
a  key  or  islet  in  the  middle  of  the  channel.  On  the  night  of  his 
arrival  there  was  an  eclipse  of  the  moon,  and  taking  an  obser¬ 
vation,  he  found  the  difference  of  longitude  between  Saona  and 
Cadiz  to  be  five  hours  and  twenty-three  minutes,  t  This  is  up¬ 
ward  of  eighteen  degrees  more  than  the  true  longitude;  an 
error  which  must  have  resulted  from  the  incorrectness  of  his 
table  of  eclipses.  { 

For  eight  days  the  admiral’s  ship  remained  weather-bound  in 
this  channel,  during  which  time  he  suffered  great  anxiety  for 
the  fate  of  the  other  vessels,  which  remained  at  sea,  exposed  to 
the  violence  of  the  storm.  They  escaped,  however,  uninjured, 
and  once  more  rejoined  him  when  the  weather  had  moderated. 

Leaving  the  channel  of  Saona,  they  reached,  on  the  24th  of 


*  Herrera,  Hist.  Ind.,  decad,  i.  lib.  ii.  cap.  15.  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  59. 

+  Herrera,  ubi  sup.  Hist.  Almirante,  ubi  sup. 

t  Five  hours  twenty-five  minutes  are  equal  to  80°  “IS';  whereas  the  true  longitude 
of  Saona  is  62°  SO'  west  of  Cadiz. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  C0LTTMBTT8. 


SOI 


September,  the  eastern  extremity  of  Hispaniola,  to  which  Co¬ 
lumbus  gave  the  name  of  Cape  San  Rafael,  at  present  known  as 
Cape  Engano.  Hence  they  stood  to  the  south-east,  touching  at 
the  island  of  Mona,  or,  as  the  Indians  called  it,  Amona,  situated 
between  Porto  Eico  and  Hispaniola.  It  was  the  intention  of 
Columbus,  notwithstanding  the  condition  of  the  ships,  to  con¬ 
tinue  farther  eastward,  and  to  complete  the  discovery  of  the 
Caribbee  Islands,  but  his  physical  strength  did  not  correspond 
to  tho  efforts  of  his  lofty  spirit.*  The  extraordinary  fatigues, 
both  of  mind  and  body,  during  an  anxious  and  harassing  voy¬ 
age  of  five  months,  had  preyed  upon  his  frame.  He  had  shared 
in  all  the  hardships  and  privations  of  the  commonest  seaman. 
He  had  put  himself  upon  the  same  scanty  allowance,  and  ex¬ 
posed  himself  to  the  same  buffetings  of  wind  and  weather. 
But  he  had  other  cares  and  trials  from  which  his  people  were 
exempt.  When  the  sailor,  worn  out  with  the  labors  of  his 
watch,  slept  soundly  amid  the  howling  of  the  storm,  the  anx¬ 
ious  commander  maintained  his  painful  vigil,  through  long 
sleepless  nights,  amid  the  pelting  of  the  tempest  and  the  drench¬ 
ing  surges  of  the  sea.  The  safety  of  his  ships  depended  upon 
his  watchfulness;  but,  above  all,  he  felt  that  a  jealous  nation 
and  an  expecting  world  were  anxiously  awaiting  the  result  of 
his  enterprise.  During  a  great  part  of  the  present  voyage  he 
had  been  excited  by  the  constant  hope  of  soon  arriving  at  the 
known  parts  of  India,  and  by  the  anticipation  of  a  triumphant 
return  to  Spain,  through  the  regions  of  the  East,  after  circum¬ 
navigating  the  globe.  When  disappointed  in  these  expecta¬ 
tions  he  was  yet  stimulated  by  a  conflict  with  incessant  hard¬ 
ships  and  perils,  as  he  made  his  way  back  against  contrary 
winds  and  storms.  The  moment  he  was  relieved  from  all  solic¬ 
itude,  and  beheld  himself  in  a  known  and  tranquil  sea,  the 
excitement  suddenly  ceased,  and  mind  and  body  sank  exhaust¬ 
ed  by  almost  superhuman  exertions.  The  very  day  on  which 
he  sailed  from  Mona  he  was  struck  with  a  sudden  malady,  which 
deprived  him  of  memory,  of  sight,  and  all  his  faculties.  He 
fell  into  a  deep  lethargy,  resembling  death  itself.  His  crew, 
alarmed  at  this  profound  torpor,  feared  that  death  was  really 
at  hand.  They  abandoned,  therefore,  all  further  prosecution 
of  the  voyage,  and  spreading  their  sails  to  the  east  wind  so 
prevalent  in  those  seas,  bore  Columbus  back,  in  a  state  of  com¬ 
plete  insensibility,  to  the  harbor  of  Isabella. 


*  Mufioz,  Hist.  N.  Mundo,  lib.  v,  sec.  22. 


BOOK  VIII. 


CHAPTER  I. 

ARRIVAL  OF  THE  ADMIRAL  AT  ISABELLA — CHARACTER  OF 
BARTHOLOMEW  COLUMBUS. 

[1494.  Sept.  4.] 

The  sight  of  the  little  squadron  of  Columbus  standing  once 
more  into  the  harbor  was  hailed  with  joy  by  such  of  the  inhab¬ 
itants  of  Isabella  as  remained  faithful  to  him.  The  long  time 
that  had  elapsed  since  his  departure  on  this  adventurous  voy¬ 
age,  without  any  tidings  arriving  from  him,  had  given  rise  to 
the  most  serious  apprehensions  for  his  safety ;  and  it  began  to 
be  feared  that  he  had  fallen  a  victim  to  his  enterprising  spirit 
in  some  remote  part  of  these  unknown  seas. 

A  joyful  and  heartfelt  surprise  awaited  the  admiral  on  his 
arrival,  in  finding  at  his  bedside  his  brother  Bartholomew,  the 
companion  of  his  youth,  his  confidential  coadjutor,  and  in  a 
manner  his  second  self,  from  whom  he  had  been  separated  for 
several  years.  It  will  be  recollected  that,  about  the  time  of  the 
admiral’s  departure  from  Portugal,  he  had  commissioned 
Bartholomew  to  repair  to  England,  and  propose  his  project  of 
discovery  to  King  Henry  VII.  Of  this  application  to  the  Eng¬ 
lish  court  no  precise  particulars  are  known.  Fernando  Colum¬ 
bus  states  that  his  uncle,  in  the  course  of  his  voyage,  was  cap¬ 
tured  and  plundered  by  a  corsair,  and  reduced  to  such  poverty, 
that  he  had  for  a  long  time  to  struggle  for  a  mere  subsistence 
by  making  sea-charts ;  so  that  some  years  elapsed  before  he 
made  his  application  to  the  English  monarch.  Las  Casas  thinks 
that  he  did  not  immediately  proceed  to  England,  having  found 
a  memorandum  in  his  handwriting,  by  which  it  would  appear 
that  he  accompanied  Bartholomew  Diaz  in  1486,  in  his  voyage 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


303 


along  the  coast  of  Africa,  in  the  service  of  the  King  of  Portugal, 
in  the  course  of  which  voyage  was  discovered  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope.* 


*  The  memorandum  cited  by  Las  Casas  (Hist.  Ind. ,  lib.  i.  cap.  7)  is  curious,  though 
not  conclusive.  He  says  that  he  found  it  in  an  old  book  belonging  to  Christopher 
Columbus,  containing  the  works  of  Pedro  de  Aliaco.  It  was  written  in  the  margin 
of  a  treatise  on  the  form  of  the  globe,  in  the  handwriting  of  Bartholomew  Colum¬ 
bus,  which  was  well  known  to  Las  Casas,  as  he  had  many  of  his  letters  in  his  pos¬ 
session.  The  memorandum  was  in  a  barbarous  mixture  of  Latin  and  Spanish,  and 
to  the  following  effect: 

In  the  year  1488,  in  December,  arrived  at  Lisbon  Bartholomew  Diaz,  captain  of 
three  caravels,  which  the  King  of  Portugal  sent  to  discover  Guinea,  and  brought  ac¬ 
counts  that  he  had  discovered  six  hundred  leagues  of  territory,  four  hundred  and 
fifty  to  the  south  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  north,  to  a  cape,  named  by  him  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope;  and  that  by  the  astrolabe  he  found  the  cape  45  degrees  beyond 
the  equinoctial  line.  This  cape  was  3100  leagues  distant  from  Lisbon ;  the  which  the 
said  captain  says  he  set  down,  league  by  league,  in  a  chart  of  navigation  presented 
by  him  to  the  King  of  Portugal ;  in  all  which,  adds  the  writer,  I  was  present  (in 
quibus  omnibus  interfui). 

Las  Casas  expresses  a  doubt  whether  Bartholomew  wrote  this  note  for  himself  or 
on  the  part  of  his  brother,  but  infers  that  one,  or  both,  were  in  this  expedition. 
The  inference  may  be  correct  with  respect  to  Bartholomew,  but  Christopher,  at  the 
time  specified,  was  at  the  Spanish  court. 

Las  Casas  accounts  for  a  difference  in  date  between  the  foregoing  memorandum 
and  the  chronicles  of  the  voyage ;  the  former  making  the  return  of  Diaz  in  the  year 
’88,  the  latter  ’87.  This,  he  observes,  might  be  because  some  begin  to  count  the  year 
after  Christmas,  others  at  the  first  of  January;  and  the  expedition  sailed  about  the 
end  of  August,  ’86,  and  returned  in  December,  ’87,  after  an  absence  of  seventeen 
months. 

Note.— Since  publishing  the  first  edition  of  this  work,  the  author  being  in  Seville, 
and  making  researches  in  the  Bibliotheca  Columbina,  the  library  given  by  Fernando 
Columbus  to  the  cathedral  of  that  city,  he  came  accidentally  upon  the  above-men¬ 
tioned  copy  of  the  work  of  Pedro  Aliaco.  He  ascertained  it  to  be  the  same  by  find¬ 
ing  the  above-cited  memorandum  written  on  the  margiu,  at  the  eighth  chapter  of 
the  tract  called  “  Imago  Mundi.”  It  is  an  old  volume  in  folio,  bound  in  parchment, 
published  soon  after  the  invention  of  printing,  containing  a  collection  in  Latin  of 
astronomical  and  cosmographical  tracts  of  Pedro  (or  Peter)  de  Aliaco,  Archbishop 
of  Cambray  and  Cardinal,  and  of  his  disciple,  John  Gerson.  Pedro  de  Aliaco  was 
born  in  1340,  and  died,  according  to  some,  in  1416,  accox-ding  to  others  in  1425.  He 
was  the  author  of  many  works,  and  one  of  the  most  learned  and  scientific  men  of 
his  day.  Las  Casas  is  of  opinion  that  his  writings  had  more  effect  in  stimulating 
Columbus  to  his  enterprise  than  those  of  any  other  author.  “His  work  was  so  fa¬ 
miliar  to  Columbus,  that  he  had  filled  its  whole  margin  with  Latin  notes  in  his  hand¬ 
writing;  citing  many  things  which  he  had  read  and  gathered  elsewhere.  This  book, 
which  was  very  old,”  continues  Las  Casas,  “  I  had  many  times  in  my  hands;  and  I 
drew  some  things  fiom  it,  wi-itten  in  Latin  by  the  said  admiral,  Clmstopher  Colum¬ 
bus,  to  verify  cei’tain  points  appertaining  to  his  histoiy,  of  which  I  before  was  In 
doubt.”  (Hist.  Ind.,  lib.  i.  cap.  11.) 

It  was  a  great  satisfaction  to  the  author,  therefore,  to  discover  this  identical  vol¬ 
ume,  this  Vade  Mecum  of  Columbus,  in  a  state  of  good  preservation.  [It  is  in  the 

cathedral  library,  E - G,  Tab.  178,  No.  21.]  The  notes  and  citations  mentioned  by 

Las  Casas  are  in  Latin,  with  many  abbreviations,  written  in  a  very  small,  but  neat 
and  distinct  hand,  and  ram  throughout  the  volume;  calling  attention  to  the  most 


S04 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


It  is  but  justice  to  the  memory  of  Henry  VII.  to  say  that 
when  the  proposition  was  eventually  made  to  him  it  met  with 
a  more  ready  attention  than  from  any  other  sovereign.  An 
agreement  was  actually  made  with  Bartholomew  for  the  prose¬ 
cution  of  the  enterprise,  and  the  latter  departed  for  Spain  in 
search  of  his  brother.  On  reaching  Paris,  he  first  received  the 
joyful  intelligence  that  the  discovery  was  already  made ;  that 
his  brother  had  returned  to  Spain  in  triumph,  and  was  actually 
at  the  Spanish  court,  honored  by  the  sovereigns,  caressed  by 
the  nobility,  and  idolized  by  the  people.  The  glory  of  Colum¬ 
bus  already  shed  its  rays  upon  his  family,  and  Bartholomew 
found  himself  immediately  a  person  of  importance.  He  was 
noticed  by  the  French  monarch  Charles  VIII.,  who,  under¬ 
standing  that  he  was  low  in  purse,  furnished  him  with  one 
hundred  crowns  to  defray  the  expenses  of  his  journey  to  Spain. 
He  reached  Seville  just  as  his  brother  had  departed  on  his 
second  voyage.  Bartholomew  immediately  repaired  to  the 
court,  then  at  Valladolid,  taking  with  him  his  two  nephews, 
Diego  and  Fernando,  who  were  to  serve  in  quality  of  pages  to 
Prince  Juan.*  He  was  received  with  distinguished  favor  by 
the  sovereigns;  who,  finding  him  to  be  an  able  and  accom¬ 
plished  navigator,  gave  him  the  command  of  three  ships 
freighted  with  supplies  for  the  colony,  and  sent  him  to  aid  his 
brother  in  his  enterprises.  He  had  again  arrived  too  late; 
reaching  Isabella  just  after  the  departure  of  the  admiral  for 
the  coast  of  Cuba. 

The  sight  of  this  brother  was  an  inexpressible  relief  to  Co¬ 
lumbus,  overwhelmed  as  he  was  by  cares,  and  surrounded  by 
strangers.  His  chief  dependence  for  sympathy  and  assistance 
had  hitherto  been  on  his  brother  Don  Diego ;  but  his  mild  and 
peaceable  disposition  rendered  him  little  capable  of  managing 
the  concerns  of  a  factious  colony.  Bartholomew  was  of  a 


striking  passages,  or  to  those  which  bear  most  upon  the  theories  of  Columbus;  oc¬ 
casionally  containing  brief  comments  or  citing  the  opinions  of  other  authors,  ancient 
and  modern,  either  in  support  or  contradiction  of  the  text.  The  memorandum  par¬ 
ticularly  cited  by  Las  Cases,  mentioning  the  voyage  of  Bartholomew  Diaz  to  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  is  to  disprove  an  opinion  in  the  text,  that  the  torrid  zone  was 
uninhabitable.  This  volume  is  a  most  curious  and  interesting  document,  the  only 
one  that  remains  of  Columbus  prior  to  his  discovery.  It  illustrates  his  researches 
and  in  a  manuer  the  current  of  his  thoughts,  while  as  yet  his  great  enterprise  ex¬ 
isted  but  in  idea,  and  while  he  was  seeking  means  to  convince  the  world  of  its  prac¬ 
ticability.  It  will  be  found  also  to  contain  the  grounds  of  many  of  his  opinions  and 
speculations  on  a  variety  of  subjects. 

*  Hist,  del  Admirante,  cap.  60. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


305 


dine  rent  and  more  efficient  character.  He  was  prompt,  active, 
decided,  and  of  a  fearless  spirit ;  whatever  he  determined,  he 
carried  into  instant  execution,  without  regard  to  difficulty 
or  danger.  His  person  corresponded  to  his  mind;  it  was 
tall,  muscular,  vigorous,  and  commanding.  He  had  an  air 
of  great  authority,  but  somewhat  stern,  wanting  that  sweet¬ 
ness  and  benignity  which  tempered  the  authorative  demeanor 
of  the  admiral.  Indeed,  there  was  a  certain  asperity  in  his 
temper,  and  a  dryness  and  abruptness  in  his  manners,  which 
made  him  many  enemies ;  yet  notwithstanding  these  external 
defects,  he  was  of  a  generous  disposition,  free  from  all  arro¬ 
gance  or  malevolence,  and  as  placable  as  he  was  brave. 

He  was  a  thorough  seaman,  understanding  both  the  theory 
and  practice  of  his  profession ;  having  been  formed,  in  a  great 
measure,  under  the  eye  of  the  admiral,  and  being  but  little 
inferior  to  him  in  science.  He  was  superior  to  him  in  the 
exercise  of  the  pen,  according  to  Las  Casas,  who  had  letters 
and  manuscripts  of  both  in  his  possession.  He  was  acquainted 
with  Latin,  but  does  not  appear  to  have  been  highly  educated  ; 
his  knowledge,  like  that  of  his  brother,  being  chiefly  derived 
from  a  long  course  of  varied  experience  and  attentive  observa¬ 
tion.  Equally  vigorous  and  penetrating  in  intellect  with  the 
admiral,  but  less  enthusiastic  in  spirit  and  soaring  in  imagina¬ 
tion,  and  with  less  simplicity  of  heart,  he  surpassed  him  in  ihe 
subtle  and  adroit  management  of  business,  was  more  attentive 
to  his  interests,  and  had  more  of  that  worldly  wisdom  which  is 
so  important  in  the  ordinary  concerns  of  life.  His  genius 
might  never  have  enkindled  him  to  the  sublime  speculation 
which  ended  in  the  discovery  of  a  world,  but  his  practical 
sagacity  was  calculated  to  turn  that  discovery  to  advantage. 
Such  is  the  description  of  Bartholomew  Columbus,  as  furnished 
by  the  venerable  Las  Casas  from  personal  observation  ;*  and  it 
will  be  found  to  accord  with  his  actions  throughout  the  remain¬ 
ing  history  of  the  admiral,  in  the  events  of  which  he  takes  a 
conspicuous  part. 

Anxious  to  relieve  himself  from  the  pressure  of  public  busi¬ 
ness,  which  weighed  heavily  upon  him  during  his  present  mal¬ 
ady,  Columbus  immediately  invested  his  brother  Bartholomew 
with  the  title  and  authority  of  Adelantado,  an  office  equivalent 
to  that  of  lieutenant-governor.  He  considered  himself  entitled 


*  Las  Casas,  Hist.  Ind.,  lib.,  i.  cap.  29. 


306 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


to  do  so  from  the  articles  of  his  arrangement  with  the  sover¬ 
eigns,  but  it  was  looked  upon  by  King  Ferdinand  as  an  undue 
assumption  of  power,  and  gave  great  offence  to  that  jealous 
monarch,  who  was  exceedingly  tenacious  of  the  prerogatives 
of  the  crown,  and  considered  dignities  of  this  rank  and  impor¬ 
tance  as  only  to  be  conferred  by  royal  mandate.*  Columbus, 
however,  was  not  actuated  in  this  appointment  by  a  mere  de¬ 
sire  to  aggrandize  his  family.  He  felt  the  importance  of  his 
brother’s  assistance  in  the  present  critical  state  of  the  colony, 
but  that  this  co-operation  would  be  inefficient  unless  it  bore  the 
stamp  of  high  official  authority.  In  fact,  during  the  few 
months  that  he  had  been  absent,  the  whole  island  had  become 
a  scene  of  discord  and  violence,  in  consequence  of  the  neglect, 
or  rather  the  flagrant  violation,  of  those  rules  which  he  had 
prescribed  for  the  maintenance  of  its  tranquillity.  A  brief  re¬ 
trospect  of  the  recent  affairs  of  the  colony  is  here  necessary  to 
explain  their  present  confusion.  It  will  exhibit  one  of  the 
many  instances  in  which  Columbus  was  doomed  to  reap  the 
fruits  of  the  evil  seed  sown  by  his  adversaries. 


CHAPTER  II. 

MISCONDUCT  OF  DON  PEDRO  MARGARITE,  AND  HIS  DEPARTURE 

FROM  THE  ISLAND. 

[1494.] 

It  will  be  recollected,  that  before  departing  on  his  voyage, 
Columbus  had  given  the  command  of  the  army  to  Don  Pedro 
Margarite,  with  orders  to  make  a  military  tour  of  the  island, 
awing  the  natives  by  a  display  of  military  force,  but  conciliat¬ 
ing  their  good-will  by  equitable  and  amicable  treatment. 

The  island  was  at  this  time  divided  into  five  domains,  each 
governed  by  a  cacique  of  absolute  and  hereditary  power,  to 
whom  a  great  number  of  inferior  caciques  yielded  tributary  al¬ 
legiance.  The  first  or  most  important  domain  comprised  the 
middle  part  of  the  royal  Vega.  It  was  a  rich,  lovely  country, 
partly  cultivated  after  the  imperfect  manner  of  the  natives, 


*  Las  Casas,  Hist.  Ind.,  lib.,  i.  cap.  101. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


30 1 

partly  covered  with  noble  forests,  studded  with  Indian  towns, 
and  watered  by  numerous  rivers,  many  of  which,  rolling  down 
from  the  mountains  of  Cibao,  on  its  southern  frontier,  had 
gold-dust  mingled  with  their  sands.  The  name  of  the  cacique 
was  Guarionex,  whose  ancestors  had  long  ruled  over  the  pro¬ 
vince. 

The  second,  called  Marien,  was  under  the  sway  of  Guacana- 
gari,  on  whose  coast  Columbus  had  been  wrecked  in  his  first 
voyage.  It  was  a  large  and  fertile  territory,  extending  along 
the  northern  coast  from  Cape  St.  Nicholas  at  the  western  ex¬ 
tremity  of  the  island,  to  the  great  river  Yagui,  afterward  called 
Monte  Christi,  and  including  the  northern  part  of  the  royal 
Vega,  since  called  the  plain  of  Cape  Frangois,  now  Cape  Hay- 
tien. 

The  third  bore  the  name  of  Maguana.  It  extended  along  the 
southern  coast  from  the  river  Ozema  to  the  lakes,  and  com¬ 
prised  the  chief  part  of  the  centre  of  the  island  lying  along  the 
southern  face  of  the  mountains  of  Cibao,  the  mineral  district 
of  Hayti.  It  was  under  the  dominion  of  the  Carib  cacique  Ca- 
onabo,  the  most  fierce  and  puissant  of  the  savage  chieftains, 
and  the  inveterate  enemy  of  the  white  men. 

The  fourth  took  its  name  from  Xaragua,  a  large  lake,  and 
was  the  most  populous  and  extensive  of  all.  It  comprised  the 
whole  western  coast,  including  the  long  promontory  of  Cape 
Tiburon,  and  extended  for  a  considerable  distance  along  the 
southern  side  of  the  island.  The  inhabitants  were  finely 
formed,  had  a  noble  air,  a  more  agreeable  elocution,  and  more 
soft  and  graceful  manners  than  the  natives  of  the  other  parts 
of  the  island.  The  sovereign  was  named  Behechio ;  his  sister, 
Anacaona,  celebrated  throughout  the  island  for  her  beauty,  was 
the  favorite  wife  of  the  neighboring  cacique  Caonabo. 

The  fifth  domain  was  Higuey,  and  occupied  the  whole  east¬ 
ern  part  of  the  island,  being  bounded  on  the  north  by  the  Bay 
of  Samana  and  part  of  the  river  Yuna,  and  on  the  west  by  the 
Ozema.  The  inhabitants  were  the  most  active  and  warlike 
people  of  the  island,  having  learned  the  use  of  the  bow  and  ar¬ 
row  from  the  Caribs,  who  made  frequent  descents  upon  their 
coasts ;  they  were  said  also  to  make  use  of  poisoned  weapons. 
Their  bravery,  however,  was  but  comparative,  and  was  found 
eventually  of  little  avail  against  the  terror  of  European  arms. 
They  were  governed  by  a  cacique  named  Cotubanama.* 


*  Charlevoix,  Hist.  St.  Domingo,  lib.  i.  p.  69, 


308 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


Such  were  the  five  territorial  divisions  of  the  island  at  the 
time  of  its  discovery.  The  amount  of  its  population  has  never 
been  clearly  ascertained ;  some  have  stated  it  at  a  million  of 
souls,  though  this  is  considered  an  exaggeration.  It  must, 
however,  have  been  very  numerous,  and  sufficient,  in  case  of 
any  general  hostility,  to  endanger  the  safety  of  a  handful  of 
Europeans.  Columbus  trusted  for  safety  partly  to  the  awe  in" 
spired  by  the  weapons  and  horses  of  the  Spaniards,  and  the 
idea  of  their  superhuman  nature,  but  chiefly  to  the  measures 
he  had  taken  to  conciliate  the  good-will  of  the  Indians  by  gen¬ 
tle  and  beneficent  treatment. 

Margarite  set  forth  on  his  expedition  with  the  greater  part 
of  the  forces,  leaving  Alonzo  de  Ojeda  in  command  of  the  for¬ 
tress  of  St.  Thomas.  Instead,  however,  of  commencing  by  ex¬ 
ploring  the  rough  mountains  of  Cibao,  as  he  had  been  com¬ 
manded,  he  descended  into  the  fertile  region  of  the  Vega. 
Here  he  lingered  among  the  populous  and  hospitable  Indian 
villages,  forgetful  of  the  object  of  his  command,  and  of  the  in¬ 
structions  left  him  by  the  admiral.  A  commander  who  lapses 
from  duty  himself  is  little  calculated  so  enforce  discipline. 
The  sensual  indulgences  of  Margarite  were  imitated  by  his  fol¬ 
lowers,  and  his  army  soon  became  little  better  than  a  crew  of 
riotous  marauders.  The  Indians,  for  a  time,  supplied  them 
with  provisions  with  their  wonted  hospitality,  but  the  scanty 
stores  of  those  abstemious  yet  improvident  people  were  soon 
exhausted  by  the  Spaniards ;  one  of  whom  they  declared  would 
consume  more  in  a  day  than  would  support  an  Indian  for  a 
month.  If  provisions  were  withheld,  or  scantily  furnished, 
they  were  taken  with  violence;  nor  was  any  compensation 
given  to  the  natives,  nor  means  taken  to  soothe  their  irritation. 
The  avidity  for  gold  also  led  to  a  thousand  acts  of  injustice  and 
oppression ;  but  above  all  the  Spaniards  outraged  the  dearest 
feelings  of  the  natives,  by  their  licentious  conduct  with  respect 
to  the  women.  In  fact,  instead  of  guests,  they  soon  assumed 
the  tone  of  imperious  masters ;  instead  of  enlightened  benefac¬ 
tors,  they  became  sordid  and  sensual  oppressors. 

Tidings  of  these  excesses,  and  of  the  disgust  and  impatience 
they  were  awakening  among  the  natives,  soon  reached  Don 
Diego  Columbus.  With  the  concurrence  of  the  council,  he 
wrote  to  Margarite,  reprehending  his  conduct,  and  requesting 
him  to  proceed  on  the  military  tour,  according  to  the  com¬ 
mands  of  the  admiral.  The  pride  of  Margarite  took  fire  at 
this  reproof;  he  considered,  or  rather  pretended  to  consider 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


309 


himself  independent  in  his  command,  and  above  all  responsi¬ 
bility  to  the  council  for  his  conduct.  Being  of  an  ancient 
family,  also,  and  a  favorite  of  the  king,  he  affected  to  look 
down  with  contempt  upon  the  newly-coined  nobility  of  Diego 
Colmnbus.  His  letters  in  reply  to  the  orders  of  the  president 
and  council  were  couched  in  a  tone  either  of  haughty  contume¬ 
ly  or  of  military  defiance.  He  continued  with  his  followers 
quartered  in  the  Vega,  persisting  in  a  course  of  outrages  and 
oppressions  fatal  to  the  tranquillity  of  the  island. 

He  was  supported  in  his  arrogant  defiance  of  authority  by 
the  cavaliers  and  adventurers  of  noble  birth  who  were  in  the 
colony,  and  who  had  been  deeply  wounded  in  the  proud  punc¬ 
tilio  so  jealously  guarded  by  a  Spaniard.  They  could  not  for¬ 
get  nor  forgive  the  stern  equity  exercised  by  the  admiral  in  a 
time  of  emergency,  in  making  them  submit  to  the  privations 
and  share  the  labors  of  the  vulgar.  Still  less  could  they  brook 
the  authority  of  his  brother  Diego,  destitute  of  his  high  per¬ 
sonal  claims  to  distinction.  They  formed,  therefore,  a  kind  of 
aristocratical  faction  in  the  colony;  affecting  to  consider 
Columbus  and  his  family  as  mere  mercenary  and  upstart  for¬ 
eigners,  building  up  their  own  fortunes  at  the  expense  of  the 
toils  and  sufferings  of  the  community,  and  the  degradation  of 
Spanish  hidalgos  and  cavaliers. 

In  addition  to  these  partisans,  Margarite  had  a  powerful  ally 
in  his  fellow-countryman,  Friar  Boyle,  the  head  of  the  religious 
fraternity,  one  of  the  members  of  the  council,  and  apostolical 
vicar  of  the  New  World.  It  is  not  easy  to  ascertain  the  origi¬ 
nal  cause  of  the  hostility  of  this  holy  friar  to  the  admiral,  who 
was  never  wanting  in  respect  to  the  clergy.  Various  alterca¬ 
tions,  however,  had  taken  place  between  them.  Some  say 
that  the  friar  interfered  in  respect  to  the  strict  measures 
deemed  necessary  by  the  admiral  for  the  security  of  the  colony ; 
others  that  he  resented  the  fancied  indignity  offered  to  himself 
and  his  household,  in  putting  them  on  the  same  short  allow¬ 
ance  with  the  common  people.  He  appears,  however,  to  have 
been  generally  disappointed  and  disgusted  with  the  sphere  of 
action  afforded  by  the  colony,  and  to  have  looked  back  with 
regret  to  the  Old  World.  He  had  none  of  that  enthusiastic 
zeal  and  persevering  self-devotion,  which  induced  so  many  of 
the  Spanish  missionaries  to  brave  all  the  hardships  and  priva¬ 
tions  of  the  New  World,  in  the  hope  of  converting  its  pagan 
inhabitants. 

Encouraged  and  fortified  by  such  powerful  partisans.  Mar- 


310 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


garite  really  began  to  consider  himself  above  the  temporary 
authorities  of  the  island.  Whenever  he  came  to  Isabella,  he 
took  no  notice  of  Don  Diego  Columbus,  nor  paid  any  respect  to 
the  council,  but  acted  as  if  he  had  paramount  command.  He 
formed  a  cabal  of  most  of  those  who  were  disaffected  to  Colum¬ 
bus,  and  discontented  with  their  abode  in  the  colony.  Among 
these  the  leading  agitator  was  Friar  Boyle.  It  was  concerted 
among  them  to  take  possession  of  the  ships  which  had  brought 
out  Don  Bartholomew  Columbus,  and  to  return  in  them  to 
Spain.  Both  Margarite  and  Boyle  possessed  the  favor  of  the 
king,  and  they  deemed  it  would  be  an  easy  matter  to  justify 
their  abandonment  of  their  military  and  religious  commands 
by  a  pretended  zeal  for  the  public  good ;  hurrying  home  to  rep¬ 
resent  the  disastrous  state  of  the  country,  through  the  tyranny 
and  oppression  of  its  rulers.  Some  have  ascribed  the  abrupt 
departure  of  Margarite  to  his  fear  of  a  severe  military  investi¬ 
gation  of  his  conduct  on  the  return  of  the  admiral ;  others,  to 
his  having,  in  the  course  of  his  licentious  amours,  contracted  a 
malady  at  that  time  new  and  unknown,  and  which  he  attribu¬ 
ted  to  the  climate,  and  hoped  to  cure  by  medical  assistance  in 
Spain.  Whatever  may  have  been  the  cause,  his  measures 
were  taken  with  great  precipitancy,  without  any  consultation 
of  the  proper  authorities,  or  any  regard  to  the  consequences  of 
bis  departure.  Accompanied  by  a  band  of  malcontents,  he  and 
Friar  Boyle  took  possession  of  some  ships  in  the  harbor,  and 
set  sail  for  Spain;  the  first  general  and  apostle  of  the  New 
World  thus  setting  the  flagrant  example  of  unauthorized  aban¬ 
donment  of  their  posts. 


CHAPTER  III. 

TROUBLES  WITH  THE  NATIVES —ALONZO  DE  OJEDA  BESIEGED  BT 

CAONABO. 

[1494.] 

The  departure  of  Pedro  Margarite  left  the  army  without  a 
head,  and  put  an  end  to  what  little  restraint  or  discipline 
remained.  There  is  no  rabble  so  licentious  as  soldiery  left  to 
their  own  direction  in  a  defenceless  country.  They  now  roved 
about  in  bands  or  singly,  according  to  their  caprice,  scattering 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


311 


themselves  among  the  Indian  villages,  and  indulging  in  all 
kinds  of  excesses  either  as  prompted  by  avarice  or  sensuality. 
The  natives,  indignant  at  having  their  hospitality  thus  requited, 
refused  any  longer  to  furnish  them  with  food.  In  a  little  while 
the  Spaniards  began  to  experience  the  pressure  of  hunger,  and 
seized  upon  provisions  wherever  they  could  be  found,  accom¬ 
panying  these  seizures  with  acts  of  wanton  violence.  At 
length,  by  a  series  of  flagrant  outrages,  the  gentle  and  pacific 
nature  of  this  people  was  roused  to  resentment,  and  from  con¬ 
fiding  and  hospitable  hosts  they  were  converted  into  vindictive 
enemies.  All  the  precautions  enjoined  by  Columbus  having 
been  neglected,  the  evils  he  had  apprehended  came  to  pass. 
Though  the  Indians,  naturally  timid,  dared  not  contend  with 
the  Spaniards  while  they  kept  up  any  combined  and  disci¬ 
plined  force,  yet  they  took  sanguinary  vengeance  on  them 
whenever  they  met  with  small  parties  or  scattered  individuals, 
roving  about  in  quest  of  food.  Encouraged  by  these  petty  tri¬ 
umphs,  and  the  impunity  which  seemed  to  attend  them,  their 
hostilities  grew  more  and  more  alarming.  Guatiguana,  cacique 
of  a  large  town  on  the  banks  of  the  Grand  River,  in  the  domin¬ 
ions  of  Guarionex,  sovereign  of  the  Vega,  put  to  death  ten  Span¬ 
iards,  who  had  quartered  themselves  in  his  town  and  outraged 
the  inhabitants  by  their  licentiousness.  He  followed  up  this 
massacre  by  setting  fire  to  a  house  in  which  forty-six  Spaniards 
were  lodged.*  Flushed  by  this  success,  he  threatened  to  attack 
a  small  fortress  called  Magdalena.,  which  had  recently  been 
built  in  his  neighborhood  in  the  Vega;  so  that  the  commander, 
Luis  de  Arriaga,  having  but  a  feeble  garrison,  was  obliged  to 
remain  shut  up  within  its  walls  until  relief  should  arrive  from 
Isabella. 

The  most  formidable  enemy  of  the  Spaniards,  however,  was 
Caonabo,  the  Carib  cacique  of  Maguana.  With  natural  talents 
for  war,  and  intelligence  superior  to  the  ordinary  range  of 
savage  intellect,  he  had  a  proud  and  daring  spirit  to  urge  him 
on,  three  valiant  brothers  to  assist  him,  and  a  numerous  tribe 
at  his  command. f  He  had  always  felt  jealous  of  the  intrusion 
of  the  white  men  into  the  island ;  but  particularly  exasperated 
by  the  establishment  of  the  fortress  of  St.  Thomas,  erected  in 
the  very  centre  of  his  dominions.  As  long  as  the  army  lay 
within  call  in  the  Vega  he  was  deterred  from  any  attack;  but 


♦Herrera,  Hist.  Ind.,  decad.  i.  lib.  ii.  cap.  16. 


tlbid. 


312 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


when,  on  the  departure  of  Margarite,  it  became  dismembered 
and  dispersed,  the  time  for  striking  a  signal  blow  seemed 
arrived.  The  fortress  remained  isolated,  with  a  garrison  of 
only  fifty  men.  By  a  sudden  and  secret  movement,  he  might 
overwhelm  it  with  his  forces,  and  repeat  the  horrors  which  he 
had  wreaked  upon  La  Navidad. 

The  wily  cacique,  however,  had  a  different  kind  of  enemy  to 
deal  with  in  the  commander  of  St.  Thomas.  Alonzo  de  Ojeda 
had  been  schooled  in  Moorish  warfare.  He  was  versed  in  all 
kinds  of  feints,  stratagems,  lurking  ambuscades,  and  wild 
assaults.  No  man  was  more  fitted,  therefore,  to  cope  with 
Indian  warriors.  He  had  a  headlong  courage,  arising  partly 
from  the  natural  heat  and  voilence  of  his  disposition,  and,  in  a 
great  measure,  from  religious  superstition.  Ho  had  been  en¬ 
gaged  in  wars  with  Moors  and  Indians,  in  public  battles  and 
private  combats,  in  fights,  feuds,  and  encounters  of  all  kinds, 
to  which  he  had  been  prompted  by  a  rash  and  fiery  spirit,  and 
a  love  of  adventure ;  yet  he  had  never  been  wounded,  nor  lost 
a  drop  of  blood.  He  began  to  doubt  whether  any  weapon  had 
power  to  harm  him,  and  to  consider  himself  under  the  special 
protection  of  the  Holy  Virgin.  As  a  kind  of  religious  talisman, 
he  had  a  small  Flemish  painting  of  the  Virgin,  given  him  by 
his  patron,  Fonseca,  Bishop  of  Badajos.  This  he  constantly 
carried  with  him  in  city,  camp,  or  field,  making  it  the  object 
of  his  frequent  orisons  and  invocations.  In  garrison  or  en¬ 
campment,  it  was  suspended  in  his  chamber  or  his  tent ;  in  his 
rough  expeditions  in  the  wilderness  he  carried  it  in  his  knap¬ 
sack,  and  whenever  leisure  permitted,  would  take  it  out,  fix  it 
against  a  tree,  and  address  his  prayers  to  this  military  patro¬ 
ness.*  In  a  word,  he  swore  by  the  Virgin,  he  invoked  the 
Virgin  whether  in  brawl  or  battle,  and  under  the  favor  of  the 
Virgin  he  was  ready  for  any  enterprise  or  adventure.  Such 
was  this  Alonzo  de  Ojeda;  bigoted  in  his  devotion,  reckless  in 
his  life,  fearless  in  his  spirit,  like  many  of  the  roving  Spanish 
cavaliers  of  those  days.  Though  small  in  size,  he  was  a  prodigy 
of  strength  and  prowess ;  and  the  chroniclers  of  the  early  dis¬ 
coveries  relate  marvels  of  his  valor  and  exploits. 

Having  reconnoitred  the  fortress,  Caonabo  assembled  ten 
thousand  warriors,  armed  with  war  clubs,  bows  and  arrows, 
and  lances  hardened  in  the  fire ;  and  making  his  way  secretly 
through  the  forests,  came  suddenly  in  the  neighborhood,  ex- 


*  Herrera,  Hist.  Ind.,  decad.  i.  lib.  viii.  cap.  4.  Pizarro  Varonese  Ulustres,  cap.  Q. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


313 


meeting  to  surprise  the  garrison  in  a  state  of  careless  security. 
He  found  Ojeda’s  forces,  however,  drawn  up  warily  within  his 
tower,  which,  being  built  ipon  an  almost  insulated  height,  with 
a  river  nearly  surrounding  it,  and  the  remaining  space  tra¬ 
versed  by  a  deep  ditch,  set  at  defiance  an  attack  by  naked 
warriors. 

Foiled  in  his  attempt,  Caonabo  now  hoped  to  reduce  it  by 
famine.  For  this  purpose,  he  distributed  his  warriors  through 
the  adjacent  forests,  and  waylaid  every  pass,  so  as  to  intercept 
any  supplies  brought  by  the  natives,  and  to  cut  off  any  forag¬ 
ing  party  from  the  fortress.  This  siege  or  investment  lasted 
for  thirty  days,*  and  reduced  the  garrison  to  great  distress. 
There  is  a  traditional  anecdote,  which  Oviedo  relates  of  Pedro 
Margarite,  the  former  commander  of  this  fortress,  but  which 
may  with  more  probability  be  ascribed  to  Alonzo  de  Ojeda,  as 
having  occurred  during  this  siege.  At  a  time  when  the  garri¬ 
son  was  sore  pressed  by  famine,  an  Indian  gained  access  to  the 
fort,  bringing  a  couple  of  wood-pigeons  for  the  table  of  the 
commander.  The  latter  was  in  an  apartment  of  the  tower 
surrounded  by  several  of  his  officers.  Seeing  them  regard  the 
birds  with  the  wistful  eyes  of  famishing  men,  “  It  is  a  pity,” 
said  he,  “that  there  is  not  enough  to  give  us  all  a  meal;  I  can¬ 
not  consent  to  feast  while  the  rest  of  you  are  starving:”  so  say¬ 
ing,  he  turned  loose  the  pigeons  from  a  window  of  the  tower. 

During  the  siege,  Ojeda  displayed  the  greatest  activity  of 
spirit  and  fertility  of  resource.  He  baffled  all  the  arts  of  the 
Carib  chieftain,  concerting  stratagems  of  various  kinds  to  re¬ 
lieve  the  garrison  and  annoy  the  foe.  He  sallied  forth  when¬ 
ever  the  enemy  appeared  in  any  force,  leading  the  van  with 
that  headlong  valor  for  which  he  was  noted;  making  great 
slaughter  with  his  single  arm,  and,  as  usual,  escaping  unhurt 
from  amidst  showers  of  darts  and  arrows. 

Caonabo  saw  many  of  his  bravest  warriors  slain.  His  forces 
were  diminishing,  for  the  Indians,  unused  to  any  protracted 
operations  of  war,  grew  weary  of  this  siege,  and  returned  daily 
in  numbers  to  their  homes.  He  gave  up  all  further  attempt, 
therefore,  on  the  fortress,  and  retired,  filled  with  admiration 
of  the  prowess  and  achievements  of  Ojeda,  t 

The  restless  chieftain  was  not  discouraged  by  the  failure  of 
this  enterprise,  but  meditated  schemes  of  a  bolder  and  more 


*  x*.  Martyr,  decad.  i.  lib.  iv. 
t  Oviedo,  Cromca  de  las  Indias,  lib.  iii.  cap.  I, 


314 


LIFE  OF  CUR1S  TO  PEER  COLUMBUS. 


extensive  nature.  Prowling  in  secret  in  the  vicinity  of  Isa* 
bella,,  he  noted  the  enfeebled  state  of  the  settlement.*  Many  of 
the  inhabitants  were  suffering  under  various  maladies,  and 
most  of  the  men  capable  of  bearing  arms  were  distributed  about 
the  country.  He  now  conceived  the  project  of  a  general  league 
among  the  caciques,  to  surprise  and  overwhelm  the  settlement, 
and  massacre  the  Spaniards  wherever  they  could  be  found. 
This  handful  of  intruders  once  exterminated,  he  trusted  the 
island  would  be  delivered  from  all  further  molestation  of  the 
kind ;  little  dreaming  of  the  hopeless  nature  of  the  contest,  and 
that  where  the  civilized  man  once  plants  his  foot,  the  power  of 
the  savage  is  gone  forever. 

Reports  of  the  profligate  conduct  of  the  Spaniards  had  spread 
throughout  the  island,  and  inspired  hatred  and  hostility  even 
among  tribes  who  had  never  beheld  them,  nor  suffered  from 
their  misdeeds.  Caonabo  found  three  of  the  sovereign  caciques 
inclined  to  co-operate  with  him,  though  impressed  with  deep 
awe  of  the  supernatural  power  of  the  Spaniards,  and  of  their 
terrific  arms  and  animals.  The  league,  however,  met  with  un¬ 
expected  opposition  in  the  fifth  cacique,  Guacanagari,  the  sov¬ 
ereign  of  Marien.  His  conduct  in  this  time  of  danger  complete¬ 
ly  manifested  the  injustice  of  the  suspicions  which  had  been 
entertained  of  him  by  the  Spaniards.  He  refused  to  join  the 
other  caciques  with  his  forces,  or  to  violate  those  laws  of  hos¬ 
pitality  by  which  he  had  considered  himself  bound  to  protect 
and  aid  the  white  men,  ever  since  they  had  been  shipwrecked 
on  his  coast.  He  remained  quietly  in  his  dominions,  entertain¬ 
ing  at  his  own  expense  a  hundred  of  the  suffering  soldiery,  and 
supplying  all  their  wants  with  his  accustomed  generosity. 
This  conduct  drew  upon  him  the  odium  and  hostility  of  his 
fellow  caciques,  particularly  of  the  fierce  Carib,  Caonabo,  and 
his  brother-in-law,  Behechio.  They  made  irruptions  into  his 
territories,  and  inflicted  on  him  various  injuries  and  indig¬ 
nities.  Behechio  killed  one  of  his  wives,  and  Caonabo  carried 
another  away  captive,  f  Nothing,  however,  could  shake  the 
devotion  of  Guacanagari  to  the  Spaniards ;  and  as  his  dominions 
lay  immediately  adjacent  to  the  settlement,  and  those  of  some 
of  the  other  caciques  were  very  remote,  the  want  of  his  co¬ 
operation  impeded  for  some  time  the  hostile  designs  of  his  con¬ 
federates.]: 


*  Hist,  del  Almirarite,  cap.  60. 

$  Herrera,  Hist.  Ind.,  decad.  i.  lib.  ii.  cap.  10 


t  Ibid. 


LIFE  OF  CIIRISTO PEER  COLUMBUS. 


315 


Such  was  the  critical  state  to  which  the  affairs  of  the  colony 
had  been  reduced,  and  such  the  bitter  hostility  engendered 
among  the  people  of  the  island,  during  the  absence  of  Colum¬ 
bus,  and  merely  in  consequence  of  violating  all  his  regulations. 
Margarite  and  Friar  Boyle  had  hastened  to  Spain  to  make  false 
representations  of  the  miseries  of  the  island.  Had  they  re¬ 
mained  faithfully  at  their  posts,  and  discharged  zealously  the 
trust  confided  to  them,  those  miseries  might  have  been  easily 
remedied,  if  not  entirely  prevented. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

MEASURES  OF  COLUMBUS  TO  RESTORE  THE  QUIET  OF  THE  ISLAND 
— EXPEDITION  OF  OJEDA  TO  SURPRISE  CAONABO. 

[1494.] 

Immediately  after  the  return  of  Columbus  from  Cuba,  while 
he  was  yet  confined  to  his  bed  by  indisposition,  he  was  gratified 
by  a  voluntary  visit  from  Guacanagari,  who  manifested  the 
greatest  concern  at  his  illness,  for  ho  appears  to  have  always 
entertained  an  affectionate  reverence  for  the  admiral.  He 
again  spoke  with  tears  of  the  massacre  of  Fort  Nativity,  dwell¬ 
ing  on  the  exertions  he  had  made  in  defence  of  the  Spaniards. 
He  now  informed  Columbus  of  the  secret  league  forming  among 
the  caciques ;  of  his  opposition  to  it,  and  the  consequent  perse¬ 
cution  he  had  suffered ;  of  the  murder  of  one  of  his  wives,  and 
the  capture  of  another.  He  urged  the  admiral  to  be  on  his 
guard  against  the  designs  of  Caonabo,  and  offered  to  lead  his 
subjects  to  the  field,  to  fight  by  the  side  of  the  Spaniards,  as 
well  out  of  friendship  for  them  as  in  revenge  of  his  own  in¬ 
juries.* 

Columbus  had  always  retained  a  deep  sense  of  the  ancient 
kindness  of  Guacanagari,  and  was  rejoiced  to  have  all  suspicion 
of  his  good  faith  thus  effectually  dispelled.  Their  former  ami¬ 
cable  intercourse  was  renewed,  with  this  difference,  that  the 
man  whom  Guacanagari  had  once  relieved  and  succored  as  a 
shipwrecked  stranger,  had  suddenly  become  the  arbiter  of  the 
fate  of  himself  and  all  his  countrymen. 

The  manner  in  which  this  peaceful  island  had  been  exasperated 


*  Herrera,  Hist.  Ind.,  decad.  i.  lib.  ii.  cap.  10. 


310 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


and  embroiled  by  the  licentious  conduct  of  the  Europeans,  was 
a  matter  of  deep  concern  to  Columbus.  He  saw  all  his  plans 
of  deriving  an  immediate  revenue  to  the  sovereigns  completely 
impeded.  To  restore  the  island  to  tranquillity  required  skilful 
management.  His  forces  were  but  small,  and  the  awe  in  which 
the  natives  had  stood  of  the  white  men,  as  supernatural  beings, 
had  been  in  some  degree  dispelled.  He  was  too  ill  to  take  a 
personal  share  in  any  warlike  enterprise;  his  brother  Diego 
was  not  of  a  military  character,  and  Bartholomew  was  yet  a 
stranger  among  the  Spaniards,  and  regarded  by  the  leading 
men  with  jealousy.  Still  Columbus  considered  the  threatened 
combination  of  the  caciques  as  but  imperfectly  formed;  he 
trusted  to  their  want  of  skill  and  experience  in  warfare,  and 
conceived  that  by  prompt  measures,  by  proceeding  in  detail, 
punishing  some,  conciliating  others,  and  uniting  force,  gentle- 
ness,  and  stratagem,  he  might  succeed  in  dispelling  the  threat- 
ened  storm. 

His  first  care  was  to  send  a  body  of  armed  men  to  the  relief 
of  Fort  Magdalena,  menaced  with  destruction  by  Guatiguana, 
the  cacique  of  the  Grand  River,  who  had  massacred  the  Span¬ 
iards  quartered  in  his  town.  Having  relieved  the  fortress,  the 
troops  overran  the  territory  of  Guatiguana,  killing  many  of  his 
warriors,  and  carrying  others  off  captives :  the  chieftain  him¬ 
self  made  his  escape.!  He  was  tributary  to  Guarionex,  sover¬ 
eign  cacique  of  the  Royal  Vega.  As  this  Indian  reigned  over 
a  great  and  populous  extent  of  country,  his  friendship  was 
highly  important  for  the  prosperity  of  the  colony,  while  there 
was  imminent  risk  of  his  hostility,  from  the  unbridled  excesses 
of  the  Spaniards  who  had  been  quartered  in  his  dominions. 
Columbus  sent  for  him,  therefore,  and  explained  to  him  that 
these  excesses  had  been  in  violation  of  his  orders,  and  contrary 
to  his  good  intentions  toward  the  natives,  whom  it  was  his  wish 
in  every  way  to  please  and  benefit.  He  explained,  likewise, 
that  the  expedition  against  Guatiguana  was  an  act  of  mere  in¬ 
dividual  punishment,  not  of  hostility  against  the  territories  of 
Guarionex.  The  cacique  was  of  a  quiet  and  placable  disposition, 
and  whatever  anger  he  might  have  felt  was  easily  soothed.  To 
link  him  in  some  degree  to  the  Spanish  interest,  Columbus  pre¬ 
vailed  on  him  to  give  his  daughter  in  marriage  to  the  Indian 
interpreter,  Diego  Colon.!  As  a  stronger  precaution  against 


*  Herrera,  Hist.  Ind.,  decad.  i.  lib.  ii.  cap.  1 

+  P.  Martyr,  decad.  i.  lib.  iv.  Gio.  Battista  Spotorno,  in  his  Memoir  of  Columbus^ 
fcas  been  led  into  an  error  by  the  name  of  this  Indian,  and  observes  that  Columbus 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


317 


any  hostility  on  the  part  of  the  cacique,  and  to  insure  tranquil¬ 
lity  in  the  important  region  of  the  Vega,  he  ordered  a  fortress 
to  be  erected  in  the  midst  of  his  territories,  which  he  named 
Fort  Conception.  The  easy  cacique  agreed  without  hesitation 
to  a  measure  fraught  with  ruin  to  himself,  and  future  slavery 
to  his  subjects. 

The  most  formidable  enemy  remained  to  be  disposed  of — 
Caonabo.  His  territories  lay  in  the  central  and  mountainous 
parts  of  the  island,  rendered  difficult  of  access  by  rugged  rocks, 
entangled  forests,  and  frequent  rivers.  To  make  war  upon, 
this  subtle  and  ferocious  chieftain,  in  the  depths  of  his  wild? 
woodland  territory,  and  among  the  fastnesses  of  his  moun¬ 
tains,  where  at  every  step  there  would  V  danger  of  ambush, 
would  be  a  work  of  time,  peril,  and  uncertain  issue.  In  the 
meanwhile  the  settlements  would  never  be  secure  from  his 
secret  and  daring  enterprises,  and  the  working  of  the  mines 
would  be  subject  to  frequent  interruption.  While  perplexed 
on  this  subject,  Columbus  was  relieved  by  an  offer  of  Alonzo 
de  Ojeda,  to  take  the  Carib  chieftain  by  stratagem,  and  de¬ 
liver  him  alive  into  his  hands.  The  project  was  wild,  hazard¬ 
ous,  and  romantic,  characteristic  of  Ojeda,  who  was  fond  of 
distinguishing  himself  by  extravagant  exploits  and  feats  of 
desperate  bravery. 

Choosing  ten  bold  and  hardy  followers,  well  armed  and  well 
mounted,  and  invoking  the  protection  of  his  patroness  the  Vir¬ 
gin,  whose  image  as  usual  he  bore  with  him  as  a  safeguard, 
Ojeda  plunged  into  the  forest,  and  made  his  way  above  sixty 
leagues  into  the  wild  territories  of  Caonabo,  whom  he  found  in 
one  of  his  most  populous  towns,  the  same  now  called  Maguana, 
near  the  town  of  San  Juan.  Approaching  the  cacique  with 
great  deference  as  a  sovereign  prince,  he  professed  to  come  on 
a  friendly  embassy  from  the  admiral  who  was  Guamiquina,  or 
chief  of  the  Spaniards,  and  who  had  sent  him  an  invaluable 
present. 

Caonabo  had  tried  Ojeda  in  battle;  he  had  witnessed  his 
fiery  prowess,  and  had  conceived  a  warrior’s  admiration  of 
him.  He  received  him  with  a  degree  of  chivalrous  courtesy,  if 
such  a  phrase  may  apply  to  the  savage  state  and  rude  hospi¬ 
tality  of  a  wild  warrior  of  the  forest.  The  free,  fearless  de- 


had  a  brother  named  Diego,  of  whom  he  seemed  to  be  ashamed,  and  whom  he  saw* 
fled  to  the  daughter  of  an  Indian  chief. 


318 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


portment,  the  great  personal  strength,  and  the  surprising 
agility  and  adroitness  of  Ojeda  in  all  manly  exercises,  and  in 
the  use  of  all  kinds  of  weapons,  were  calculated  to  delight  a 
savage,  and  he  soon  became  a  great  favorite  with  Caonabo. 

Ojeda  now  used  all  his  influence  to  prevail  upon  the  cacique 
to  repair  to  Isabella,  for  the  purpose  of  making  a  treaty  with 
Columbus,  and  becoming  the  ally  and  friend  of  the  Spaniards. 
It  is  said  that  he  offered  him,  as  a  lure,  the  bell  of  the  chapel  of 
Isabella.  This  bell  was  the  wonder  of  the  island.  When  the 
Indians  heard  it  ringing  for  mass,  and  beheld  the  Spaniards 
hastening  toward  the  chapel,  they  imagined  that  it  talked,  and 
that  the  white  men  obeyed  it.  Begarding  with  superstition  all 
things  connected  with  the  Spaniards,  they  looked  upon  this 
bell  as  something  supernatural,  and  in  their  usual  phrase  said 
it  had  come  from  “Turey,”  or  the  skies.  Caonabo  had  heard 
the  bell  at  a  distance,  in  his  prowlings  about  the  settlement, 
and  had  longed  to  see  it ;  but  when  it  was  proffered  to  him  as  a 
present  of  peace,  he  found  it  impossible  to  resist  the  tempta¬ 
tion.  He  agreed,  therefore,  to  set  out  for  Isabella ;  but  when 
the  time  came  to  depart  Ojeda  beheld  with  surprise  a  powerful 
force  of  warriors  assembled  and  ready  to  march.  He  asked 
the  meaning  of  taking  such  an  army  on  a  mere  friendly  visit ; 
the  cacique  proudly  replied  that  it  did  not  befit  a  great  prince 
like  himself  to  go  forth  scantily  attended.  Ojeda  was  little 
satisfied  with  this  reply;  he  knew  the  warlike  character  of 
Caonabo,  and  his  deep  subtlety ;  he  feared  some  sinister  design 
— a  surprise  of  the  fortress  of  Isabella,  or  an  attempt  upon  the 
person  of  the  admiral.  He  knew  also  that  it  was  the  wish  of 
Columbus  either  to  make  peace  with  the  cacique,  or  to  get  pos 
session  of  his  person  without  the  alternative  of  open  warfare. 
He  had  recourse  to  a  stratagem,  therefore,  which  has  an  air  of 
fable  and  romance,  but  which  is  recorded  by  all  the  contem¬ 
porary  historians  with  trivial  variations,  and  which,  Las  Casas 
assures  us,  was  in  current  circulation  in  the  island  when  he  ar¬ 
rived  there,  about  six  years  after  the  event.  It  accords  too 
with  the  adventurous  and  extravagant  character  of  the  man, 
and  with  the  wild  stratagems  and  vaunting  exploits  incident 
to  Indian  warfare. 

In  the  course  of  their  march,  having  halted  near  the  Little 
Yagui,  a  considerable  branch  of  the  Neyba,  Ojeda  one  day  pro¬ 
duced  a  set  of  manacles  of  polished  steel,  so  highly  burnished 
that  they  looked  like  silver.  These  he  assured  Caonabo  were 
royal  ornaments  which  had  come  from  heaven,  or  the  Turey  of 


LIFE  OF  CUPJST0FI1ER  COLUMBUS. 


319 


Biscay  ;*  that  they  were  worn  by  the  monarchs  of  Castile  on 
solemn  dances  and  other  high  festivities,  and  were  intended  as 
presents  to  the  cacique.  He  proposed  that  Caonabo  should  go 
to  the  river  and  bathe,  after  which  he  should  be  decorated 
with  these  ornaments,  mounted  on  the  horse  of  Ojeda,  and 
should  return  in  the  state  of  a  Spanish  monarch,  to  astonish 
his  subjects.  The  cacique  was  dazzled  with  the  glitter  of  the 
manacles,  and  flattered  with  the  idea  of  bestriding  one  of  those 
tremendous  animals  so  dreaded  by  his  countrymen.  He  re¬ 
paired  to  the  river,  and  having  bathed,  was  assisted  to  mount 
behind  Ojeda,  and  the  shackles  were  adjusted.  Ojeda  made 
several  circuits  to  gain  space,  followed  by  his  little  band  of 
horsemen,  the  Indians  shrinking  back  from  the  prancing 
steeds.  At  length  he  made  a  wide  sweep  into  the  forest,  until 
the  trees  concealed  him  from  the  sight  of  the  army.  His  fol¬ 
lowers  then  closed  round  him,  and  drawing  their  swords, 
threatened  Caonabo  with  instant  death  if  he  made  the  least 
noise  or  resistance.  Binding  him  with  cords  to  Ojeda  to  pre¬ 
vent  his  falling  or  effecting  an  escape,  they  put  spurs  to  their 
horses,  dashed  across  the  river,  and  made  off  through  the 
woods  with  their  prize,  f 

They  had  now  fifty  or  sixty  leagues  of  wilderness  to  traverse 
on  their  way  homeward,  with  here  and  there  large  Indian 
towns.  They  had  borne  off  their  captive  far  beyond  the  pur¬ 
suit  of  his  subjects ;  but  the  utmost  vigilance  was  requisite  to 
prevent  his  escape -during  this  long  and  toilsome  journey,  and 
to  avoid  exciting  the  hostilities  of  any  confederate  cacique. 
They  had  to  shun  the  populous  parts  of  the  country  therefore, 
or  to  pass  through  the  Indian  towns  at  full  gallop.  They 
suffered  greatly  from  fatigue,  hunger,  and  watchfulness;  en¬ 
countering  many  perils,  fording  and  swimming  the  numerous 
rivers  of  the  plains,  toiling  through  the  deep  tangled  forests, 
and  clambering  over  the  high  and  rocky  mountains.  They 
accomplished  all  in  safety,  and  Ojeda  entered  Isabella  in 
triumph  from  this  most  daring  and  characteristic  enterprise, 
with  his  wild  Indian  bound  behind. 


*  The  principal  iron  manufactories  of  Spain  are  established  in  Biscay,  where  the 
ore  is  feund  in  abundance. 

t  This  romantic  exploit  of  Ojeda  is  recorded  at  large  by  Las  Oasas;  by  his  copyist 
Herrera  (decad.  i.  lib.  ii.  cap.  16);  by  Fernando  Pizarro,  in  his  Varones  Illustres  del 
Nuevo  Mundo;  and  by  Charlevoix  in  his  History  of  St  Domingo.  Peter  Martyr  and 
others  have  given  it  more  eoncisely,  alluding  to,  but  not  inserting  its  romantic  d#* 

tails. 


320 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


Columbus  could  not  refrain  from  expressing  his  great  satis¬ 
faction  when  this  dangerous  foe  was  delivered  into  his  hands. 
The  haughty  Carib  met  him  with  a  lofty  and  unsubdued  air, 
disdaining  to  conciliate  him  by  submission,  or  to  deprecate  his 
vengeance  for  the  blood  of  white  men  which  he  had  shed.  He 
never  bowed  his  spirit  to  captivity;  on  the  contrary,  though 
completely  at  the  mercy  of  the  Spaniards,  he  displayed  that 
boasting  defiance  which  is  a  part  of  Indian  heroism,  and  which 
the  savage  maintains  toward  his  tormentors,  even  amid  the 
agonies  of  the  fagot  and  the  stake.  He  vaunted  his  achieve¬ 
ment  in  surprising  and  burning  the  fortress  of  Nativity,  and 
slaughtering  its  garrison,  and  declared  that  he  had  secretly 
reconnoitered  Isabella,  with  an  intention  of  wreaking  upon  it 
the  same  desolation. 

Columbus,  though  struck  with  the  heroism  of  the  chieftain, 
considered  him  a  dangerous  enemy,  whom,  for  the  peace  of  the 
island,  it  was  advisable  to  send  to  Spain ;  in  the  meantime  he 
ordered  that  he  should  be  treated  with  kindness  and  respect, 
and  lodged  him  in  a  part  of  his  own  dwelling,  where,  however, 
he  kept  him  a  prisoner  in  chains.  This  precaution  must  have 
been  necessary,  from  the  insecurity  of  his  prison ;  for  Las  Casas 
observes  that  the  admiral’s  house  not  being  spacious,  nor  hav¬ 
ing  many  chambers,  the  passers  by  in  the  street  could  see  the 
captive  chieftain  from  the  portal.* 

Caonabo  always  maintained  a  haughty  deportment  toward 
Columbus,  while  he  never  evinced  the  least  animosity  against 
Ojeda.  He  rather  admired  the  latter  as  a  consummate  warrior, 
for  having  pounced  upon  him  and  borne  him  off  in  this  hawk¬ 
like  manner  from  the  very  midst  of  his  fighting-men. 

When  Columbus  entered  the  apartment  where  Caonabo  was 
confined,  all  present  rose,  according  to  custom,  and  paid  him 
reverence;  the  cacique  alone  neither  moved  nor  took  any 
notice  of  him.  On  the  contrary,  when  Ojeda  entered,  though 
small  in  person  and  without  external  state,  Caonabo  rose  and 
saluted  him  with  profound  respect.  On  being  asked  the 
reason  of  this,  Columbus  being  Guamiquina,  or  great  chief 
over  all,  and  Ojeda  but  one  of  his  subjects,  the  proud  Carib 
replied  that  the  admiral  had  never  dared  to  come  personally  to 
his  house,  and  seize  him;  it  was  only  through  the  valor  of 
Ojeda  he  was  his  prisoner;  to  Ojeda,  therefore,  he  owed  rever¬ 
ence,  not  to  the  admiral.! 


*  Las  Casas.  Hist.  Ind.,  lib.  i.  cap.  103. 
t  Ibid.,  cap.  103. 


LIFE  OF  CHIUS  TO  PEER  COLUMBUS. 


321 


The  captivity  of  Caonabo  was  deeply  felt  by  his  subjects,  for 
the  natives  of  this  island  seem  generally  to  have  been  extremely 
loyal,  and  strongly  attached  to  their  caciques.  One  of  the 
brothers  of  Caonabo,  a  warrior  of  great  courage  and  address, 
and  very  popular  among  the  Indians,  assembled  an  army  of 
more  than  seven  thousand  men  and  led  them  secretly  to  the 
neighborhood  of  St.  Thomas,  where  Ojeda  was  again  in  com¬ 
mand.  His  intention  was  to  surprise  a  number  of  Spaniards, 
in  hopes  of  obtaining  his  brother  in  exchange  for  them.  Ojeda, 
as  usual,  had  notice  of  the  design,  but  was  not  to  be  again  shut 
up  in  his  fortress.  Having  been  reinforced  by  a  detachment 
sent  by  the  Adelantado,  he  left  a  sufficient  force  in  garrison, 
and  with  the  remainder,  and  his  little  troop  of  horse,  set  off 
boldly  to  meet  the  savages.  The  brother  of  Caonabo,  when  he 
saw  the  Spaniards  approaching,  showed  some  military  skill, 
disposing  his  army  in  five  battalions.  The  impetuous  attack  of 
Ojeda,  however,  with  his  handful  of  horsemen,  threw  the  In¬ 
dian  warriors  into  sudden  panic.  At  the  furious  onset  of  these 
steel-clad  beings,  wielding  their  flashing  weapons,  and  bestriding 
what  appeared  to  be  ferocious  beasts  of  prey,  they  threw  down 
their  weapons  and  took  to  flight ;  many  were  slain,  more  were 
taken  prisoners,  and  among  the  latter  was  the  brother  of 
Caonabo,  bravely  fighting  in  a  righteous  yet  desperate  cause.* 


CHAPTER  V. 

ARRIVAL  OF  ANTONIO  DE  TORRES  WITH  FOUR  SHIPS  FROM 
SPAIN— HIS  RETURN  WITH  INDIAN  SLAVES. 

[1494.] 

The  colony  was  still  suffering  greatly  from  want  of  provi¬ 
sions  ;  the  European  stock  was  nearly  exhausted,  and  such  was 
the  idleness  and  improvidence  of  the  colonists,  or  the  confusion 
into  which  they  had  been  thrown  by  the  hostilities  of  the 
natives,  or  such  was  their  exclusive  eagerness  after  the  precious 
metals,  that  they  seem  to  have  neglected  the  true  wealth  of  the 
island,  its  quick  and  productive  soil,  and  to  have  been  in  con¬ 
stant  danger  of  famine,  though  in  the  midst  of  fertility. 


*  Oviedo.  Cronica  de  los  Indias,  lib.  iii.  cap.  1.  Charlevoix,  Hist.  St.  Domingo,  lib. 


322 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


At  length  they  were  relieved  by  the  arrival  of  four  ships 
commanded  by  Antonio  Torres,  which  brought  an  ample  supply 
of  provisions.  There  were  also  a  physician  and  an  apothecary, 
whose  aid  was  greatly  needed  in  the  sickly  state  of  the  colony ; 
but  above  all,  there  were  mechanics,  millers,  fishermen,  gar¬ 
deners,  and  husbandmen — the  true  kind  of  population  for  a 
colony. 

Torres  brought  letters  from  the  sovereigns  (dated  August  lGth, 
1494)  of  the  most  gratifying  kind,  expressing  the  highest  satis¬ 
faction  at  the  accounts  sent  home  by  the  admiral,  and  acknowl¬ 
edging  that  everything  in  the  course  of  his  discoveries  had 
turned  out  as  he  had  predicted.  They  evinced  the  liveliest 
interest  in  the  affairs  of  the  colony,  and  a  desire  of  receiving 
frequent  intelligence  as  to  his  situation,  proposing  that  a  caravel 
should  sail  each  month  from  Isabella  and  Spain.  They  informed 
him  that  all  differences  with  Portugal  were  amicably  adjusted, 
and  acquainted  him  with  the  conventional  agreement  with  that 
power  relative  to  a  geographical  fine,  separating  their  newly- 
discovered  possessions;  requesting  him  to  respect  this  agree¬ 
ment  in  the  course  of  his  discoveries.  As  in  adjusting  the 
arrangement  with  Portugal,  and  in  drawing  the  proposed  line, 
it  was  important  to  have  the  best  advice,  the  sovereigns  re¬ 
quested  Columbus  to  return  and  be  present  at  the  convention ; 
or,  in  case  that  should  be  inconvenient,  to  send  his  brother 
Bartholomew,  or  any  other  person  whom  he  should  consider 
fully  competent,  furnished  with  such  maps,  charts,  and  designs 
as  might  be  of  service  in  the  negotiation.* 

There  was  another  letter,  addressed  generally  to  the  inhabi¬ 
tants  of  the  colony,  and  to  all  who  should  proceed  on  voyages 
of  discovery,  commanding  them  to  obey  Columbus  as  implicitly 
as  they  would  the  sovereigns  themselves,  under  pain  of  their 
high  displeasure  and  a  fine  of  ten  thousand  maravedies  for 
each  offence. 

Such  was  the  well-merited  confidence  reposed  at  this  moment 
by  the  sovereigns  in  Columbus,  but  which  was  soon  to  be 
blighted  by  the  insidious  reports  of  worthless  men.  He  was  al¬ 
ready  aware  of  the  complaints  and  misrepresentations  which 
had  been  sent  home  from  the  colony,  and  which  would  be  en¬ 
forced  by  Margarite  and  Friar  Boyle.  He  was  aware  that  his 
standing  in  Spain  was  of  that  uncertain  kind  which  a  stran- 


t  *  Herrera,  decad.  i.  lib.  ii.  cap.  17. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


323 


ger  always  possesses  in  the  service  of  a  foreign  country,  where 
he  has  no  friends  nor  connections  to  support  him,  and  where 
even  his  very  merits  increase  the  eagerness  of  envy  to  cast  him 
down.  His  efforts  to  promote  the  working  of  the  mines,  and  to 
explore  the  resources  of  the  island,  had  been  impeded  by  the 
misconduct  of  Margarite  and  the  disorderly  life  of  the  Span¬ 
iards  in  general,  yet  he  apprehended  that  the  very  evils  which 
they  had  produced  would  be  alleged  against  him,  and  the  want 
of  profitable  returns  be  cited  to  discredit  and  embarass  his  ex¬ 
peditions. 

To  counteract  any  misrepresentations  of  the  kind,  Columbus 
hastened  the  return  of  the  ships,  and  would  have  returned  with 
them,  not  merely  to  comply  with  the  wishes  of  the  sovereigns 
in  being  present  at  the  settlement  of  the  geographical  line,  but 
to  vindicate  himself  and  his  enterprises  from  the  aspersions  of 
his  enemies.  The  malady,  however,  which  confined  him  to  his 
bed  prevented  his  departure ;  and  his  brother  Bartholomew  was 
required  to  aid,  with  his  practical  good  sense  and  his  resolute 
spirit,  in  regulating  the  disordered  affairs  of  the  island.  It  was 
determined,  therefore,  to  send  home  his  brother  Diego,  to  at¬ 
tend  to  the  wishes  of  the  sovereigns,  and  to  take  care  of  his  in¬ 
terests  at  court.  At  the  same  time  he  exerted  himself  to  the 
utmost  to  send  by  the  ships  satisfactory  proofs  of  the  value  of 
his  discoveries.  He  remitted  by  them  all  the  gold  that  he 
could  collect,  with  specimens  of  other  metals,  and  of  various 
fruits  and  valuable  plants,  which  he  had  collected  either  in  His¬ 
paniola  or  in  the  course  of  his  voyage.  In  his  eagerness  to  pro¬ 
duce  immediate  profit,  and  to  indemnify  the  sovereigns  for 
those  expenses  which  bore  hard  upon  the  royal  treasury,  he 
sent,  likewise,  about  five  hundred  Indian  prisoners,  who,  he 
suggested,  might  be  sold  as  slaves  at  Seville. 

It  is  painful  to  find  the  brilliant  renown  of  Columbus  sullied 
by  so  foul  a  stain.  The  customs  of  the  times,  however,  must 
be  pleaded  in  his  apology.  The  precedent  had  been  given  long 
before,  by  both  Spaniards  and  Portuguese,  in  their  African  dis¬ 
coveries,  wherein  the  traffic  in  slaves  had  formed  one  of  the 
greatest  sources  of  profit.  In  fact,  the  practice  had  been  sanc¬ 
tioned  by  the  church  itself,  and  the  most  learned  theologians 
had  prononnced  all  barbarous  and  infidel  nations,  who  shut 
their  ears  to  the  truths  of  Christianity,  fair  objects  of  war  and 
rapine,  of  captivity  and  slavery.  If  Columbus  needed  any 
practical  illustration  of  this  doctrine,  he  had  it  in  the  con¬ 
duct  of  Ferdinand  himself,  in  his  late  wars  with  the  Moors  of 


324 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  CO  LUMP  VS. 


Granada,  in  which  he  had  always  been  surrounded  by  a  crowo 
of  ghostly  advisers,  and  had  professed  to  do  everything  for  the 
glory  and  advancement  of  the  faith.  In  this  holy  war,  as  i 
was  termed,  it  was  a  common  practice  to  make  inroads  mb 
the  Moorish  territories  and  carry  off  cavalgadas,  not  merely  o 
flocks  and  herds,  hut  of  human  beings,  and  those  not  warrior 
taken  with  weapons  in  their  hands,  but  quiet  villagers,  labor 
ing  peasantry,  and  helpless  women  and  children.  These  were 
carried  to  the  mart  at  Seville,  or  to  other  populous  towns,  anc 
sold  into  slavery.  The  capture  of  Malaga  was  a  memorable  in 
stance,  where,  as  a  punishment  for  an  obstinate  and  brave  de 
fence,  which  should  have  excited  admiration  rather  thai 
revenge,  eleven  thousand  people  of  both  sexes,  and  of  all  rank* 
and  ages,  many  of  them  highly  cultivated  and  delicately  reared 
were  suddenly  torn  from  their  homes,  severed  from  each  other 
and  swept  into  menial  slavery,  even  though  half  of  their  ran 
soms  had  been  paid.  These  circumstances  are  not  advanced  t( 
vindicate,  but  to  palliate  the  conduct  of  Columbus.  He  actec 
but  in  conformity  to  the  customs  of  the  times,  and  was  sane 
tioned  by  the  example  of  the  sovereign  under  whom  he  served 
Las  Casas,  the  zealous  and  enthusiastic  advocate  of  the  Indians 
who  suffers  no  opportunity  to  escape  him  of  exclaiming  in  ve 
hement  terms  against  their  slavery,  speaks  with  indulgence  o 
Columbus  on  this  head.  If  those  pious  and  learned  men,  hf 
observes,  whom  the  sovereigns  took  for  guides  and  instructors 
were  so  ignorant  of  the  injustice  of  this  practice,  it  is  no  won 
der  that  the  unlettered  admiral  should  not  be  conscious  of  its 
impropriety.* 


CHAPTER  VI. 

EXPEDITION  OF  COLUMBUS  AGAINST  THE  INDIANS  OF  THE  VEGP 

— BATTLE. 

[1494.] 

Notwithstanding  the  defeat  of  the  Indians  by  Ojeda,  thej 
still  retained  hostile  intentions  against  the  Spaniards.  Th* 
idea  of  their  cacique  being  a  prisoner  and  in  chains  enraged  the 


♦Ij&s  Casas,  Hist.  Ind.,  tom.  i,  cap.  122,  ms 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


325 


natives  of  Maguana;  and  the  general  sympathy  manifested  by 
other  tribes  of  the  island  shows  how  widely  that  intelligent 
savage  had  extended  his  influence,  and  how  greatly  he  was  ad¬ 
mired.  He  had  still  active  and  powerful  relatives  remaining, 
to  attempt  his  rescue,  or  revenge  his  fall.  One  of  his  brothers, 
Manicaotex  by  name,  a  Carib,  bold  and  warlike  as  himself, 
succeeded  to  the  sway  over  his  subjects.  His  favorite  wife 
also,  Anacoana,  so  famous  for  her  charms,  had  great  influence 
over  her  brother  Behecio,  cacique  of  the  populous  province  of 
Xaragua.  Through  these  means  a  violent  and  general  hostility 
to  the  Spaniards  was  excited  throughout  the  island,  and  the  for¬ 
midable  league  of  the  caciques,  which  Caonabo  had  in  vain  at¬ 
tempted  to  accomplish  when  at  large,  was  produced  by  his  cap¬ 
tivity.  Guacanagari,  the  cacique  of  Marien,  alone  remained 
friendly  to  the  Spaniards,  giving  them  timely  information  of 
the  gathering  storm  and  offering  to  take  the  field  with  them  as 
a  faithful  ally. 

The  protracted  illness  of  Columbus,  the  scantiness  of  his 
military  force,  and  the  wretched  state  of  the  colonists  in  gene¬ 
ral,  reduced  by  sickness  and  scarcity  to  great  bodily  weakness, 
had  hitherto  induced  him  to  try  every  means  of  conciliation 
and  stratagem  to  avert  and  dissolve  the  confederacy.  He  had 
at  length  recovered  his  health,  and  his  followers  were  in  some 
degree  refreshed  and  invigorated  by  the  supplies  brought  by 
the  ships.  At  this  time  he  received  the  intelligence  that  the 
allied  caciques  were  actually  assembled  in  great  force  in  the 
Vega,  within  two  days’  march  of  Isabella,  with  an  intention  of 
making  a  general  assault  upon  the  settlement,  and  overwhelm¬ 
ing  it  by  numbers.  Columbus  resolved  to  take  the  field  at 
once,  and  to  carry  the  war  into  the  territories  of  the  enemy, 
rather  than  suffer  it  to  be  brought  to  his  own  door. 

The  whole  sound  and  effective  force  that  he  could  muster,  in 
the  present  infirm  state  of  the  colony,  did  not  exceed  two  hun¬ 
dred  infantry  and  twenty  horse.  They  were  armed  with 
cross-bows,  swords,  lances,  and  espingardas,  or  heavy  arque¬ 
buses,  which  in  those  days  were  used  with  rests,  and  some¬ 
times  mounted  on  wheels.  With  these  formidable  weapons,  a 
handful  of  European  warriors,  cased  in  steel  and  covered  with 
bucklers,  were  able  to  cope  with  thousands  of  naked  savages. 
They  had  aid  of  another  kind,  however,  consisting  of  twenty 
bloodhounds,  animals  scarcely  less  terrible  to  the  Indians  than 
the  horses,  and  infinitely  more  fatal.  They  were  fearless  and 
ferocious;  nothing  daunted  them,  nor  when  they  had  once 


\ 


326  LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS . 

seized  upon  their  prey  could  anything  compel  them  to  relin¬ 
quish  their  hold.  The  naked  bodies  of  the  Indians  offered  no 
defence  against  their  attacks.  They  sprang  on  them.  Dragged 
them  to  the  earth,  and  tore  them  to  pieces. 

The  admiral  was  accompanied  in  the  expedition  by  his 
brother  Bartholomew,  whose  counsel  and  aid  he  sought  on  all 
occasions,  and  who  had  not  merely  great  personal  force  and 
undaunted  courage,  but  also  a  decidedly  military  turn  of 
mind.  Guacanagari  also  brought  his  people  into  the  field; 
neither  he  nor  his  subjects,  however,  were  of  a  warlike  charac¬ 
ter,  nor  calculated  to  render  much  assistance.  The  chief  ad¬ 
vantage  of  his  co-operation  was,  that  it  completely  severed  him 
from  the  other  caciques,  and  insured  the  dependence  of  him¬ 
self  and  his  subjects  upon  the  Spaniards.  In  the  present  in¬ 
fant  state  of  the  colony  its  chief  security  depended  upon  jeal¬ 
ousies  and  dissensions  sown  among  the  native  powers  of  the 
island. 

On  the  27th  of  March,  1495,  Columbus  issued  forth  from  Isa¬ 
bella  with  his  little  army,  and  advanced  by  marches  of  ten 
leagues  a  day  in  quest  of  the  enemy.  He  ascended  again  to  the 
mountain-pass  of  the  Cavaliers,  whence  he  had  first  looked 
down  upon  the  Vega.  With  what  different  feelings  did  he  now 
contemplate  it.  The  vile  passions  of  the  white  men  had  already 
converted  this  smiling,  beautiful,  and  once  peaceful  and  hospi¬ 
table  region,  into  a  land  of  wrath  and  hostility.  Wherever  the 
smoke  of  an  Indian  town  rose  from  among  the  trees,  it  marked 
a  horde  of  exasperated  enemies,  and  the  deep  rich  forests  below 
him  swarmed  with  lurking  warriors.  In  the  picture  which  his 
imagination  had  drawn  of  the  peaceful  and  inoffensive  nature 
of  this  people,  he  had  flattered  himself  with  the  idea  of  ruling 
over  them  as  a  patron  and  benefactor,  but  now  he  found 
himself  compelled  to  assume  the  odious  character  of  a  con¬ 
queror. 

The  Indians  had  notice  by  their  scouts  of  his  approach,  but 
though  they  had  already  had  some  slight  experience  of  the 
warfare  of  the  white  men,  they  were  confident  from  the  vast 
superiority  of  their  numbers,  which,  it  is  said,  amounted  to  one 
hundred  thousand  men.*  This  is  probably  an  exaggeration ; 
as  Indians  never  draw  out  into  the  open  field  in  order  of  battle, 
but  lurk  among  the  forests,  it  is  difficult  to  ascertain  their 
force,  and  their  rapid  movements  and  sudden  sallies  and  re- 


*  Las  Casas.  Hist.  IruV  lib,  i,  cap,  104,  us. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


327 


treats  from  various  parts,  together  with  the  wild  shouts  and 
yells  from  opposite  quarters  of  the  woodlands,  are  calculated 
to  give  an  exaggerated  idea  of  their  number.  The  army  must, 
however,  have  been  great,  as  it  consisted  of  the  combined 
forces  of  several  caciques  of  this  populous  island.  It  was  com¬ 
manded  by  Manicaotex,  the  brother  of  Caonabo.  The  Indians, 
who  were  little  skilled  in  numeration  and  incapable  of  reckon¬ 
ing  beyond  ten,  had  a  simple  mode  of  ascertaining  and  describ¬ 
ing  the  force  of  an  enemy,  by  counting  out  a  grain  of  maize  or 
Indian  corn  for  every  warrior.  When,  therefore,  the  spies,  who 
had  watched  from  rocks  and  thickets  the  march  of  Columbus, 
came  back  with  a  mere  handful  of  corn  as  the  amount  of  his 
army,  the  caciques  scoffed  at  the  idea  of  so  scanty  a  number 
making  head  against  their  countless  multitude.* 

Columbus  drew  near  to  the  enemy  about  the  place  where  the 
town  of  St.  Jago  has  since  been  built.  The  Indian  army,  under 
Manicaotex,  was  posted  on  a  plain  interspersed  with  clusters  of 
forest  trees,  now  known  as  the  Savanna  of  Matanza.  Having 
ascertained  the  great  force  of  the  enemy,  Don  Bartholomew  ad¬ 
vised  that  their  little  army  should  be  divided  into  detachments, 
and  should  attack  the  Indians  at  the  same  moment  from  seve¬ 
ral  quarters ;  this  plan  was  adopted.  The  infantry,  separating 
into  different  bodies,  advanced  suddenly  from  various  direc 
tions  with  great  din  of  drums  and  trumpets,  and  a  destructive 
discharge  of  firearms  from  the  covert  of  the  trees.  The  Indians 
were  thrown  into  complete  confusion.  An  army  seemed  press¬ 
ing  upon  them  from  every  quarter,  their  fellow-warriors  to  be 
laid  low  with  thunder  and  lightning  from  the  forests.  While 
driven  together  and  confounded  by  these  attacks,  Alonzo  de 
Ojeda  charged  their  main  body  impetuously  with  his  troop  of 
cavalry,  cutting  his  way  with  lance  and  sabre.  The  horses 
bore  down  the  terrified  Indians,  while  their  riders  dealt  their 
blows  on  all  sides  unopposed.  The  bloodhounds  at  the  same 
time  rushed  upon  the  naked  savages,  seizing  them  by  the 
throat,  dragging  them  to  the  earth,  and  tearing  out  their 
bowels.  The  Indians,  unaccustomed  to  large  and  fierce  quad¬ 
rupeds  of  any  kind,  were  struck  with  horror  when  assailed  by 
these  ferocious  animals.  They  thought  the  horses  equally 
fierce  and  devouring.  The  contest,  if  such  it  might  be  called, 
was  of  short  duration. 

The  Indians  fled  in  every  direction  with  yells  and  howlings ; 


*  Las  Casas,  ubj  sup. 


328 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUZFOUS. 


some  clambered  to  the  top  of  rocks  and  precipices,  whence  they 
made  piteous  supplications,  and  offers  of  complete  submission; 
many  were  killed,  many  made  prisoners,  and  the  confederacy 
was  for  the  time  completely  broken  up  and  dispersed. 

Guacanagari  had  accompanied  the  Spaniards  into  the  field 
according  to  his  promise,  but  he  was  little  more  than  a  specta¬ 
tor  of  this  battle  or  rather  rout.  He  was  not  of  a  martial  spirit, 
and  both  he  and  his  subjects  must  have  shrunk  with  awe  at 
this  unusual  and  terrific  burst  of  war,  even  though  on  the  part 
of  their  allies.  His  participation  in  the  hostilities  of  the  white 
men  was  never  forgiven  by  the  other  caciques,  and  he  returned 
to  his  dominions,  followed  by  the  hatred  and  execrations  of  all 
the  islanders. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

SUBJUGATION  OF  THE  NATIVES— IMPOSITION  OF  TRIBUTE. 

[1494.] 

Columbus  followed  up  his  victory  by  making  a  military  tour 
through  various  parts  of  the  island,  and  reducing  them  to 
obedience.  The  natives  made  occasional  attempts  at  opposition, 
but  were  easily  checked.  Ojeda’s  troop  of  cavalry  was  of  great 
efficacy  from  the  rapidity  of  its  movements,  the  active  in¬ 
trepidity  of  its  commander,  and  the  terror  inspired  by  the 
horses.  There  was  no  service  too  wild  and  hazardous  for  Ojeda. 
If  any  appearance  of  war  arose  in  a  distant  part  of  the  country, 
he  would  penetrate  with  his  little  squadron  of  cavalry  through 
the  depths  of  the  forests,  and  fall  like  a  thunderbolt  upon  the 
enemy,  disconcerting  all  their  combinations  and  enforcing  im 
plicit  submission. 

The  Royal  Vega  was  soon  brought  into  subjection.  Being  an 
immense  plain,  perfectly  level,  it  was  easily  overrun  by  the 
horsemen,  whose  appearance  overawed  the  most  populous  vil¬ 
lages.  Guarionex,  its  sovereign  cacique,  was  of  a  mild  and 
placable  character,  and  though  he  had  been  roused  to  war  by 
the  instigation  of  the  neighboring  chieftains,  he  readily  sub¬ 
mitted  to  the  domination  of  the  Spaniards.  Manicaotex,  the 
brother  of  Caonabo,  was  also  obliged  to  sue  for  peace ;  and  being 
the  prime  mover  of  the  confederacy,  the  other  caciques  fol¬ 
lowed  his  example.  Behechio  alone,  the  cacique  of  Xaragua, 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


329 


and  brother-in-law  of  Caonabo,  made  no  overtures  of  submis¬ 
sion.  His  territories  lay  remote  from  Isabella,  at  the  western 
extremity  of  the  island,  around  the  deep  bay  called  the  Bight 
of  Leogan,  and  the  long  peninsula  called  Cape  Tiburon.  They 
were  difficult  of  access,  and  had  not  as  yet  been  visited  by  the 
white  men.  He  retired  into  his  domains,  taking  with  him  his 
sister,  the  beautiful  Anacaona,  wife  of  Caonabo,  whom  he 
cherished  with  fraternal  affection  under  her  misfortunes,  who 
soon  acquired  almost  equal  sway  over  his  subjects  with  him¬ 
self,  and  was  destined  subsequently  to  make  some  figure  in  the 
events  of  the  island. 

Having  been  forced  to  take  the  field  by  the  confederacy  of 
the  caciques,  Columbus  now  asserted  the  right  of  a  conqueror, 
and  considered  how  he  might  turn  his  conquest  to  most  profit. 
His  constant  anxiety  was  to  make  wealthy  returns  to  Spain, 
for  the  purpose  of  indemnifying  the  sovereigns  for  their  great 
expenses ;  of  meeting  the  public  expectations,  so  extravagantly 
excited ;  and  above  all  of  silencing  the  calumnies  of  those  who 
had  gone  home  determined  to  make  the  most  discouraging  rep¬ 
resentations  of  his  discoveries.  He  endeavored,  therefore,  to 
raise  a  large  and  immediate  revenue  by  imposing  heavy  trib¬ 
utes  on  the  subjected  provinces.  In  those  oi  the  Vega,  Cibao, 
and  all  the  region  of  the  mines,  each  individual  above  the  age 
of  fourteen  years  was  required  to  pay,  every  three  months,  the 
measure  of  a  Flemish  hawk’s-bell  of  gold  dust.*  The  caciques 
had  to  pay  a  much  larger  amount  for  their  personal  tribute. 
Manicaotex,  the  brother  of  Caonabo,  was  obliged  individually 
to  render  in,  every  three  months,  half  a  calabash  of  gold, 
amounting  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  pesos.  In  those  districts 
which  were  distant  from  the  mines,  and  produced  no  gold,  each 
individual  was  required  to  furnish  an  arroba  (twenty -five 
pounds)  of  cotton  every  three  months.  Each  Indian,  on  ren¬ 
dering  this  tribute,  received  a  copper  medal  as  a  certificate  of 
payment,  which  he  was  to  wear  suspended  round  his  neck; 
those  who  were  found  without  such  documents  were  liable  to 
arrest  and  punishment. 

The  taxes  and  tributes  thus  imposed  bore  hard  upon  the  spirit 


*  A  hawk’s-bell,  according  to  Las  Casas  (Hist.  Ind.,  lib.  i.  cap.  105),  contains  about 
three  Castellanos’  worth  of  gold  dust,  equal  to  five  dollars,  and  in  estimating  the 
superior  value  of  gold  in  those  days,  equivalent  to  fifteen  dollars  of  our  time .  A 
quantity  of  gold  worth  one  hundred  and  fifty  Castellanos  was  equivalent  to  seven 
hundred  and  ninety -eight  dollars  of  the  present  day. 


330 


LIFE  OF  CHRIST OFFER  COLUMBUS . 


of  the  natives,  accustomed  to  be  but  lightly  taxed  by  their 
caciques ;  and  the  caciques  themselves  found  the  exactions  in¬ 
tolerably  grievous.  Guarionex,  the  sovereign  of  the  Royal 
Yega,  represented  to  Columbus  the  difficuty  he  had  in  comply¬ 
ing  with  the  terms  of  his  tribute.  His  richly  fertile  plain 
yielded  no  gold ;  and  though  the  mountains  on  his  borders  con¬ 
tained  mines,  and  their  brooks  and  torrents  washed  down  gold 
dust  into  the  sands  of  the  rivers,  yet  his  subjects  were  not 
skilled  in  the  art  of  collecting  it.  He  proffered,  therefore,  in¬ 
stead  of  the  tribute  required,  to  cultivate  with  grain  a  band  of 
country  stretching  across  the  island  from  sea  to  sea,  enough, 
says  Las  Casas,  to  have  furnished  all  Castile  with  bread  for  ten 
years.* 

His  offer  was  rejected.  Columbus  knew  that  gold  alone 
would  satisfy  the  avaricious  dreams  excited  in  Spain,  and  in¬ 
sure  the  popularity  and  success  of  his  enterprises.  Seeing, 
however,  the  difficulty  that  many  of  the  Indians  had  in  furnish¬ 
ing  the  amount  of  gold  dust  required,  he  lowered  the  demand 
to  the  measure  of  one  half  of  a  hawk’s-bell. 

To  enforce  the  payment  of  these  tributes,  and  to  maintain 
the  subjection  of  the  island,  Columbus  put  the  fortress  already 
built  in  a  strong  state  of  defence,  and  erected  others.  Besides 
those  of  Isabella,  and  of  St.  Thomas,  in  the  mountains  of  Cibao, 
there  were  now  the  fortress  of  Magdalena,  in  the  Royal  Yega, 
near  the  site  of  the  old  town  of  Santiago,  on  the  river  Jalaqua, 
two  leagues  from  the  place  where  the  new  town  was  afterward 
built ;  another  called  Santa  Catalina,  the  site  of  which  is  near 
the  Estencia  Yaqui ;  another  called  Esperanza,  on  the  banks  of 
the  river  Yaqui,  facing  the  outlet  of  the  mountain  pass  La 
Puerta  de  los  Hidalgos,  now  the  pass  of  Marney ;  but  the  most 
important  of  those  recently  erected  was  Fort  Conception,  in 
one  of  the  most  fruitful  and  beautiful  parts  of  the  Yega,  about 
fifteen  leagues  to  the  east  of  Esperanza,  controlling  the  exten¬ 
sive  and  populous  domains  of  Guarionex.  f 

In  this  way  was  the  yoke  of  servitude  fixed  upon  the  island, 
and  its  thralldom  effectually  insured.  Deep  despair  now  fell 
upon  the  natives  when  they  found  a,  perpetual  task  inflicted 
upon  them,  enforced  at  stated  and  frequently  recurring  periods. 
Weak  and  indolent  by  nature,  unused  to  labor  of  any  kind, 
and  brought  up  in  the  untasked  idleness  of  their  soft  climate 


*  Las  Casas,  Hist.  IndL,  lib.  i.  cap.  105. 
tlbid.,  cap.  110, 


LIFE  OF  CEB  IS  TO  PEER  COLUMBUS. 


331 


and  their  fruitful  groves,  death  itself  seemed  preferable  to  a  life 
of  toil  and  anxiety.  They  saw  no  end  to  this  harassing  evil, 
which  had  so  suddenly  fallen  upon  them ;  no  escape  from  its 
all-pervading  influence ;  no  prospect  of  return  to  that  roving 
independence  and  ample  leasure,  so  dear  to  the  wild  inhabitants 
of  the  forest.  The  pleasant  life  of  the  island  was  at  an  end : 
the  dream  in  the  shade  by  day ;  the  slumber  during  the  sultry 
noontide  heat  by  the  fountain  or  the  stream,  or  under  the 
spreading  palm-tree ;  and  the  song,  the  dance,  and  the  game  in 
the  mellow  evening,  when  summoned  to  their  simple  amuse¬ 
ments  by  the  rude  Indian  drum.  They  were  now  obliged  to 
grope  day  by  day,  with  bending  body  and  anxious  eye,  along  the 
borders  of  their  rivers,  sifting  the  sands  for  the  grains  of  gold 
which  every  day  grew  more  scanty ;  or  to  labor  in  their  fields 
beneath  the  fervor  of  a  tropical  sun,  to  raise  food  for  their  task¬ 
masters,  or  to  produce  the  vegetable  tribute  imposed  upon 
them.  They  sank  to  sleep  weary  and  exhausted  at  night,  with 
the  certainty  that  the  next  day  was  but  to  be  a  repetition  of  the 
same  toil  and  suffering.  Or  if  they  occasionally  indulged  in 
their  national  dances,  the  ballads  to  which  they  kept  time  were 
of  a  melancholy  and  plaintive  character.  They  spoke  of  the 
times  that  were  past  before  the  white  men  had  introduced  sor¬ 
row,  and  slavery,  and  weary  labor  among  them ;  and  they  re¬ 
hearsed  pretended  prophecies,  handed  down  from  their  ances¬ 
tors,  foretelling  the  invasion  of  the  Spaniards ;  that  strangers 
should  come  into  their  island,  clothed  in  apparel,  with  swords 
capable  of  cleaving  a  man  asunder  at  a  blow,  under  whose  yoke 
their  posterity  should  be  subdued.  These  ballads,  or  areytos, 
they  sang  with  mournful  tunes  and  doleful  voices,  bewailing 
the  loss  of  their  liberty,  and  their  painful  servitude.* 

They  had  flattered  themselves,  for  a  time,  that  the  visit  of 
the  strangers  would  be  but  temporary,  and  that,  spreading 
their  ample  sails,  their  ships  would  once  more  bear  them  back 
to  their  home  in  the  sky.  In  their  simplicity,  they  had  repeat¬ 
edly  inquired  when  they  intended  to  return  to  Turey,  or  the 
heavens.  They  now  beheld  them  taking  root,  as  it  were,  in  the 
island.  They  beheld  their  vessels  lying  idle  and  rotting  in  the 
harbor,  while  the  crews,  scattered  about  the  country,  were 
building  habitations  and  fortresses,  the  solid  construction  of 
which,  unlike  their  own  slight  cabins,  gave  evidence  of  perma¬ 
nent  abode.f 


*  Peter  Martyr,  decad  iii.  lib  Lx. 
tLas  Casas,  FUgll-hitt,  lib.  i.  cap  106. 


332 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


Finding  how  vain  was  all  attempt  to  deliver  themselves  by 
warlike  means  from  these  invincible  intruders,  they  now  con¬ 
certed  a  forlorn  and  desperate  mode  of  annoyance.  They  per¬ 
ceived  that  the  settlement  suffered  greatly  from  shortness  of 
provisions,  and  depended,  in  a  considerable  degree,  upon  the 
supplies  furnished  by  the  natives.  The  fortresses  in  the  inter¬ 
ior,  also,  and  the  Spaniards  quartered  in  the  villages,  looked 
almost  entirely  to  them  for  subsistence.  They  agreed  among 
themselves,  therefore,  not  to  cultivate  the  fruits,  the  roots,  and 
maize,  their  chief  articles  of  food,  and  to  destroy  those  already 
growing ;  hoping,  by  producing  a  famine,  to  starve  the  stran¬ 
gers  from  the  island.  They  little  knew,  observes  Las  Casas, 
one  of  the  characteristics  of  the  Spaniards,  who  the  more 
hungry  they  are,  the  more  inflexible  they  become,  and  the 
more  hardened  to  endure  suffering.*  They  carried  their  plan 
generally  into  effect,  abandoning  their  habitations,  laying 
waste  their  fields  and  groves,  and  retiring  to  the  mountains, 
where  there  were  roots  and  herbs  and  abundance  of  utias  for 
their  subsistence. 

This  measure  did  indeed  produce  much  distress  among  the 
Spaniards,  but  they  had  foreign  resources,  and  were  enabled  to 
endure  it  by  husbanding  the  partial  supplies  brought  by  their 
ships ;  the  most  disastrous  effects  fell  upon  the  natives  them¬ 
selves.  The  Spaniards  stationed  in  the  various  fortresses,  find' 
ing  that  there  was  not  only  no  hope  of  tribute,  but  a  danger  of 
famine  from  this  wanton  waste  and  sudden  desertion,  pursued 
the  natives  to  their  retreats,  to  compel  them  to  return  to  la  Dor. 
The  Indians  took  refuge  in  the  most  sterile  and  dreary  heights ; 
flying  from  one  wild  retreat  to  another,  the  women  with  their 
children  in  their  arms  or  at  their  backs,  and  all  worn  out  with 
fatigue  and  hunger,  and  harassed  by  perpetual  alarms.  In 
every  noise  of  the  forest  or  the  mountain  they  fancied  they 
heard  the  sound  of  their  pursuers;  they  hid  themselves  in 
damp  and  dismal  caverns,  or  in  the  rocky  banks  and  margins 
of  the  torrents,  and  not  daring  to  hunt,  or  fish,  or  even  to  ven¬ 
ture  forth  in  quest  of  nourishing  roots  and  vegetables,  they 
had  to  satisfy  their  raging  hunger  with  unwholesome  food.  In 
this  way  many  thousands  of  them  perished  miserably,  through 
famine,  fatigue,  terror,  and  various  contagious  maladies  engen- 


*No  conociendo  la  propriedad  de  los  Espafioles,  los  cuales  cuanto  mas  hambri- 
entos,  tanto  mayor  teson  tienen  y  mas  duros  son  de  sufrir  y  para  sufrir.  Le*> 
Casas,  Hist.  Ind.,  lib.  i.  cap.  100 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


333 


dered  by  their  sufferings.  All  spirit  of  opposition  was  at  length 
completely  quelled.  The  surviving  Indians  returned  in  despair 
to  their  habitations,  and  submitted  humbly  to  the  yoke.  So 
deep  an  awe  did  they  conceive  of  their  conquerors,  that  it  is 
said  a  Spaniard  might  go  singly  and  securely  all  over  the 
island,  and  the  natives  would  even  transport  him  from  place 
to  place  on  their  shoulders.* 

Before  passing  on  to  other  events,  it  may  be  proper  here  to 
notice  the  fate  of  Guacanagari,  as  he  makes  no  further  appear* 
ance  in  the  course  of  this  history.  His  friendship  for  the  Span* 
iards  had  severed  him  from  his  countrymen,  but  did  not  exon* 
erate  him  from  the  general  woes  of  the  island.  His  territories, 
like  those  of  the  other  caciques,  were  subjected  to  a  tribute, 
which  his  people,  with  the  common  repugnance  to  labor,  found 
it  difficult  to  pay.  Columbus,  who  knew  his  worth,  and  could 
have  protected  him,  was  long  absent  either  in  the  interior  of 
the  island,  or  detained  in  Europe  by  his  own  wrongs.  In  the 
interval,  the  Spaniards  forgot  the  hospitality  and  services  of 
Guacanagari,  and  his  tribute  was  harshly  exacted.  He  found 
himself  overwhelmed  with  opprobrium  from  his  countrymen 
at  large,  and  assailed  by  the  clamors  and  lamentations  of  his 
suffering  subjects.  The  strangers  whom  he  had  succored  in  dis¬ 
tress,  and  taken  as  it  were  to  the  bosom  of  his  native  island, 
had  become  its  tyrants  and  oppressors.  Care,  and  toil,  and 
poverty,  and  strong  handed  violence,  had  spread  their  curses 
over  the  land,  and  he  felt  as  if  he  had  invoked  them  on  his 
race.  Unable  to  bear  the  hostilities  of  his  fellow  caciques,  the 
woes  of  his  subjects,  and  the  extortions  of  his  ungrateful 
allies,  he  took  refuge  at  last  in  the  mountains,  where  he  died 
obscurely  and  in  misery,  f 

An  attempt  has  been  made  by  Oviedo  to  defame  the  char¬ 
acter  of  this  Indian  prince :  it  is  not  for  Spaniards,  however,  to 
excuse  their  own  ingratitude  by  casting  a  stigma  on  his  name. 
He  appears  to  have  always  manifested  toward  them  that  true 
friendship  which  shines  brightest  in  the  dark  days  of  adversity. 
He  might  have  played  a  nobler  part,  in  making  a  stand,  with 
his  brother  caciques,  to  drive  these  intruders  from  his  native 
soil ;  but  he  appears  to  have  been  fascinated  by  his  admiration 
of  the  strangers,  and  his  personal  attachment  to  Columbus. 


♦Las  Casas,  Hist.  Ind.,  lib.  i.  c  106.  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  60. 
t  Charlevoix,  Hist,  de  St.  Domingo,  lib.  ii. 


334 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTO  PEER  COLUMBUS. 


He  was  bountiful,  hospitable,  affectionate,  and  kind-hearted; 
competent  to  rule  a  gentle  and  unwarlike  people  in  the  happier 
days  of  the  island,  but  unfitted,  through  the  softness  of  his 
nature,  for  the  stern  turmoil  which  followed  the  arrival  of  tho 
white  men. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

INTRIGUES  AGAINST  COLUMBUS  IN  THE  COURT  OF  SPAIN— AGUADO 
SENT  TO  INVESTIGATE  THE  AFFAIRS  OF  HISPANIOLA. 

[1495.] 

While  Columbus  was  endeavoring  to  remedy  the  evils  pro¬ 
duced  by  the  misconduct  of  Margarite,  that  recreant  com¬ 
mander  and  his  political  coadjutor,  Friar  Boyle,  were  busily 
undermining  his  reputation  in  the  court  of  Castile.  They 
accused  him  of  deceiving  the  sovereigns  and  the  public  by 
extravagant  descriptions  of  the  countries  he  had  discovered; 
they  pronounced  the  island  of  Hispaniola  a  source  of  expense 
rather  than  profit,  and  they  drew  a  dismal  picture  of  the  suffer¬ 
ings  of  the  colony,  occasioned,  as  they  said,  by  the  oppressions 
of  Columbus  and  his  brothers.  They  charged  them  with  task¬ 
ing  the  community  with  excessive  labor  during  a  time  of  gen¬ 
eral  sickness  and  debility;  with  stopping  the  rations  of  indi¬ 
viduals  on  the  most  trifling  pretext,  to  the  great  detriment  of 
their  health ;  with  wantonly  inflicting  severe  corporal  punish¬ 
ments  on  the  common  people,  and  with  heaping  indignities  on 
Spanish  gentlemen  of  rank.  They  said  nothing,  however,  of 
the  exigencies  which  had  called  for  unusual  labor ;  nor  of  the 
idleness  and  profligacy  which  required  coercion  and  chastise¬ 
ment  ;  nor  of  the  seditious  cabals  of  the  Spanish  cavaliers,  who 
had  been  treated  with  indulgence  rather  than  severity.  In 
addition  to  these  complaints,  they  represented  the  state  of 
confusion  of  the  island,  in  consequence  of  the  absence  of  the 
admiral,  and  the  uncertainty  which  prevailed  concerning  his 
fate,  intimating  the  probability  of  his  having  perished  in  his 
fool-hardy  attempts  to  explore  unknown  seas  and  discover 
unprofitable  lands. 

These  prejudiced  and  exaggerated  representations  derived 
much  weight  from  the  official  situations  of  Margarite  and 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


335 


Friar  Boyle.  They  were  supported  by  the  testimony  of  many 
discontented  and  factious  idlers,  who  had  returned  with  them 
to  Spain.  Some  of  these  persons  had  connections  of  rank,  who 
were  ready  to  resent,  with  Spanish  haughtiness,  what  they 
considered  the  arrogant  assumptions  of  an  ignoble  foreigner. 
Thus  the  popularity  of  Columbus  received  a  vital  blow,  and 
immediately  began  to  decline.  The  confidence  of  the  sov¬ 
ereigns  also  was  impaired,  and  precautions  were  adopted  which 
savor  strongly  of  the  cautious  and  suspicious  policy  of  Ferdi¬ 
nand. 

It  was  determined  to  send  some  person  of  trust  and  confi¬ 
dence,  who  should  take  upon  himself  the  government  of  the 
island  in  case  of  the  continued  absence  of  the  admiral,  and  who, 
even  in  the  event  of  his  return,  should  inquire  into  the  alleged 
evils  and  abuses,  and  remedy  such  as  should  appear  really  in 
existence.  The  person  proposed  for  this  difficult  office  was 
Diego  Carillo,  a  commander  of  a  military  order ;  but  as  he  was 
not  immediately  prepared  to  sail  with  the  fleet  of  caravels 
about  to  depart  with  supplies,  the  sovereigns  wrote  to  Fonseca, 
the  superintendent  of  Indian  affairs,  to  send  some  trusty  person 
with  the  vessels,  to  take  charge  of  the  provisions  with  which 
they  were  freighted.  These  he  was  to  distribute  among  the 
colonists,  under  the  supervision  of  the  admiral,  or,  in  case  of 
his  absence,  in  presence  of  those  in  authority.  He  was  also  to 
collect  information  concerning  the  manner  in  which  the  island 
had  been  governed,  the  conduct  of  persons  in  office,  the  causes 
and  authors  of  existing  grievances,  and  the  measures  by  which 
they  were  to  be  remedied.  Having  collected  such  information, 
he  was  to  return  and  make  report  to  the  sovereigns ;  but  in 
case  he  should  find  the  admiral  at  the  island,  everything  was 
to  remain  subject  to  his  control. 

There  was  another  measure  adopted  by  the  sovereigns  about 
this  time,  which  likewise  shows  the  declining  favor  of  Colum¬ 
bus.  On  the  10th  of  April,  1495,  a  proclamation  was  issued, 
giving  general  permission  to  native-born  subjects  to  settle  in  the 
island  of  Hispaniola,  and  to  go  on  private  voyages  of  discovery 
and  traffic  to  the  New  World.  This  was  granted,  subject  to 
certain  conditions. 

All  vessels  were  to  sail  exclusively  from  the  port  of  Cadiz, 
and  under  the  inspection  of  officers  appointed  by  the  crown. 
Those  who  embarked  for  Hispaniola  without  pay  and  at  their 
own  expense,  were  to  have  lands  assigned  to  them,  and  to  bo 
provisioned  for  one  year,  with  a  right  to  retain  such  lands,  and 


336 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


all  houses  they  might  erect  upon  them.  Of  all  gold  which  they 
might  collect,  they  were  to  retain  one  third  for  themselves,  and 
pay  two  thirds  to  the  crown.  Of  all  other  articles  of  merchant 
dise,  the  produce  of  the  island,  they  were  to  pay  merely  one 
tenth  to  the  crown.  Their  purchases  were  to  be  made  in  the 
presence  of  officers  appointed  by  the  sovereigns,  and  the  royal 
duties  paid  into  the  hands  of  the  king’s  receiver. 

Each  ship  sailing  on  private  enterprise  was  to  take  one  or  two 
persons  named  by  the  royal  officers  at  Cadiz.  One  tenth  of  the 
tonnage  of  the  ship  was  to  he  at  the  service  of  the  crown,  free 
of  charge.  One  tenth  of  whatever  such  ships  should  procure 
in  the  newly-discovered  countries  was  to  be  paid  to  the  crown 
on  their  return.  These  regulations  included  private  ships 
trading  to  Hispaniola  with  provisions. 

For  every  vessel  thus  fitted  out  on  private  adventure,  Co¬ 
lumbus,  in  consideration  of  his  privilege  of  an  eighth  of  ton¬ 
nage,  was  to  have  the  right  to  freight  one  on  his  own  account. 

This  general  license  for  voyage  of  discovery  was  made  in 
consequence  of  the  earnest  applications  of  Vincent  Yanes  Pin- 
zon,  and  other  able  and  intrepid  navigators,  more  of  whom  had 
sailed  with  Columbus.  They  offered  to  make  voyages  at  their 
own  cost  and  hazard.  The  offer  was  tempting  and  well-timed. 
The  government  was  poor,  the  expeditions  of  Columbus  were 
expensive,  yet  their  object  was  too  important  to  be  neglected. 
Here  was  an  opportunity  of  attaining  all  the  ends  proposed, 
not  merely  without  expense,  but  with  a  certainty  of  gain.  The 
permission,  therefore,  was  granted,  without  consulting  the 
opinion  or  the  wishes  of  the  admiral.  It  was  loudly  com¬ 
plained  of  by  him,  as  an  infringement  of  his  privileges,  and  as 
disturbing  the  career  of  regular  and  well-organized  discovery, 
by  the  licentious  and  sometimes  predatory  enterprises  of  reck¬ 
less  adventurers.  Doubtless,  much  of  the  odium  that  has 
attached  itself  to  the  Spanish  discoveries  in  the  New  World 
has  arisen  from  the  grasping  avidity  of  private  individuals. 

Just  at  this  juncture,  in  the  early  part  of  April,  while  the 
interests  of  Columbus  were  in  such  a  critical  situation,  the 
ships  commanded  by  Torres  arrived  in  Spain.  They  brought 
intelligence  of  the  safe  return  of  the  admiral  to  Haspaniola, 
from  his  voyage  along  the  southern  coast  of  Cuba,  with  the 
evidence  which  he  had  collected  to  prove  that  it  was  the  ex¬ 
tremity  of  the  Asiatic  continent,  and  that  he  had  penetrated  to 
the  borders  of  the  wealthiest  countries  of  the  East.  Specimens 
were  likewise  brought  of  the  gold,  and  the  various  animals 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBtJS. 


S3? 


and  vegetable  curiosities,  which  he  had  procured  in  the  course 
of  his  voyage.  No  arrival  could  have  been  more  timely.  It  at 
once  removed  all  doubts  respecting  his  safety,  and  obviated 
the  necessity  of  part  of  the  precautionary  measures  then  on  the 
point  of  being  taken.  The  supposed  discovery  of  the  rich  coast 
of  Asia  also  threw  a  temporary  splendor  about  his  expedition, 
and  again  awakened  the  gratitude  of  the  sovereigns.  The 
effect  was  immediately  apparent  in  their  measures.  Instead 
of  leaving  it  to  the  discretion  of  Juan  Rodriguez  de  Fonseca  to 
appoint  whom  he  pleased  to  the  commission  of  inquiry  aboul 
to  be  sent  out,  they  retracted  that  power,  and  nominated  Juan 
Aguado. 

He  was  chosen,  because,  on  returning  from  Hispaniola,  he 
had  been  strongly  recommended  to  royal  favor  by  Columbus. 
It  was  intended,  therefore,  as  a  mark  of  consideration  to  the 
latter,  to  appoint  as  commissioner  a  person  of  whom  he  had 
expressed  so  high  an  opinion,  and  who,  it  was  to  be  presumed, 
entertained  for  him  a  grateful  regard. 

Fonseca,  in  virtue  of  his  official  station  as  superintendent  of 
the  affairs  of  the  Indies,  and  probably  to  gratify  his  growing 
animosity  for  Columbus,  had  detained  a  quantity  of  gold 
which  Don  Diego,  brother  to  the  admiral,  had  brought  on  his 
own  private  account.  The  sovereigns  wrote  to  him  repeat¬ 
edly,  ordering  him  not  to  demand  the  gold,  or  if  he  had  seized 
it,  to  return  it  immediately,  with  satisfactory  explanations, 
and  to  write  to  Columbus  in  terms  calculated  to  soothe  any 
angry  feelings  which  he  might  have  excited.  He  was  ordered, 
also,  to  consult  the  persons  recently  arrived  from  Hispaniola, 
in  what  manner  he  could  yield  satisfaction  to  the  admiral,  and 
to  act  accordingly.  Fonseca  thus  suffered  one  of  the  severest 
humiliations  of  an  arrogant  spirit,  that  of  being  obliged  tc 
make  atonement  for  its  arrogance.  It  quickened,  however 
the  malice  which  he  had  conceived  against  the  admiral  and  hie: 
family.  Unfortunately  his  official  situation,  and  the  royal 
confidence  which  he  enjoyed,  gave  him  opportunities  of  grati 
fying  it  subsequently  in  a  thousand  insidious  ways. 

While  the  sovereigns  thus  endeavored  to  avoid  any  act 
winch  might  give  umbrage  to  Columbus,  they  took  certain 
measures  to  provide  for  the  tranquillity  of  the  colony.  In  a 
letter  to  the  admiral  they  directed  that  the  number  of  persons 
in  the  settlement  should  be  limited  to  five  hundred,  a  greater 
number  being  considered  unnecessary  for  the  service  of  the 
island,  and  a  burdensome  expense  to  the  crown.  To  prevent 


333 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


further  discontents  about  provisions,  they  ordered  that  ths 
rations  of  individuals  should  be  dealt  out  in  portions  every  fif¬ 
teen  days,  and  that  all  punishment  by  short  allowance,  or  the 
stoppage  of  rations,  should  be  discontinued,  as  tending  to  in¬ 
jure  the  health  of  the  colonists,  who  required  every  assistance 
of  nourishing  diet  to  fortify  them  against  the  maladies  incident 
to  a  strange  climate. 

An  able  and  experiencee  metallurgist,  named  Pablo  Belvis, 
was  sent  out  in  place  of  the  wrong-headed  Firmin  Cedo.  He 
was  furnished  with  all  the  necessary  engines  and  implements 
for  mining,  assaying,  and  purifying  the  precious  metals,  and 
with  liberal  pay  and  privileges.  Ecclesiastics  were  also  sent 
to  supply  the  place  of  Friar  Boyle,  and  of  certain  of  his  breth¬ 
ren  who  desired  to  leave  the  island.  The  instruction  and  con¬ 
version  of  the  natives  awakened  more  and  more  the  solicitude 
of  the  queen.  In  the  ships  of  Torres  a  large  number  of  Indians 
arrived,  who  had  been  captured  in  the  recent  wars  with  the 
caciques.  Royal  orders  had  been  issued,  that  they  should  be 
sold  as  slaves  in  the  markets  of  Andalusia,  as  had  been  the 
custom  with  respect  to  negroes  taken  on  the  coast  of  Africa, 
and  to  Moorish  prisoners  captured  in  the  war  with  Granada. 
Isabella,  however,  had  been  deeply  interested  by  the  accounts 
given  of  the  gen-tle  and  hospitable  character  of  these  islanders, 
and  of  their  great  docility.  The  discovery  had  been  made  un¬ 
der  her  immediate  auspices ;  she  looked  upon  these  people  as 
under  her  peculiar  care,  and  she  anticipated  with  pious  enthu* 
siasm  the  glory  of  leading  them  from  darkness  into  the  paths 
of  fight.  Her  compassionate  spirit  revolted  at  the  idea  of 
treating  them  as  slaves,  even  though  sanctioned  by  the  cus¬ 
toms  of  the  time.  Within  five  days  after  the  royal  order  for 
the  sale,  a  letter  was  written  by  the  sovereigns  to  Bishop 
Fonseca,  suspending  that  order,  until  they  could  inquire  into 
the  cause  for  which  the  Indians  had  been  made  prisoners,  and 
consult  learned  and  pious  theologians,  whether  their  sale 
would  be  justifiable  in  the  eyes  of  God.*  Much  difference  of 
opinion  took  place  among  divines  on  this  important  question ; 
the  queen  eventually  decided  it  according  to  the  dictates  of 
her  own  pure  conscience  and  charitable  heart.  She  ordered 
tnat  the  Indians  should  be  sent  back  to  their  native  country, 
and  enjoined  that  the  islanders  should  be  conciliated  by  the 


*  Letter  of  the  Sovereigns  to  Fonseca.  Navarrete,  Colleccion  de  los  Viages,  i.  11, 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


BSD 


gentlest  means,  instead  of  being  treated  with  severity.  Un¬ 
fortunately  her  orders  came  too  late  to  Hispaniola  to  have  the 
desired  effect.  The  scenes  of  warfare  and  violence,  produced 
by  the  bad  passions  of  the  colonists  and  the  vengeance  of  the 
natives,  were  not  to  be  forgotten,  and  mutual  distrust  and 
rankling  animosity  had  grown  up  between  them,  which  no 
after  exartions  could  eradicate. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

ARRIVAL  OF  AGUADO  AT  ISABELLA— HIS  ARROGANT  CONDUCT- 

TEMPEST  IN  THE  HARBOR. 

[1495.] 

Juan  Aguado  set  sail  from  Spain  toward  the  end  of  August, 
with  four  caravels,  well  freighted  with  supplies  of  all  kinds. 
Don  Diego  Columbus  returned  in  this  squadron  to  Hispaniola 
and  arrived  at  Isabella  in  the  month  of  October,  while  the  ad¬ 
miral  was  absent,  occupied  in  re-establishing  the  tranquility  of 
the  interior.  Aguado,  as  has  already  been  shown,  was  under 
obligations  to  Columbus,  who  had  distinguished  him  from 
among  his  companions,  and  had  recommended  him  to  the  favor 
of  the  sovereigns.  He  was,  however,  one  of  those  weak  men 
whose  heads  are  turned  by  the  least  elevation.  Puffed  up  by  a 
little  temporary  power,  he  lost  sight,  not  merely  of  the  respect 
and  gratitude  due  to  Columbus,  but  of  the  nature  and  extent  of 
his  own  commission.  Instead  of  acting  as  an  agent  employed 
to  collect  information,  he  assumed  a  tone  of  authority,  as  though 
the  reins  of  government  had  been  transferred  into  his  hands. 
He  interfered  in  public  affairs ;  ordered  various  persons  to  be 
arrested ;  called  to  account  the  officers  employed  by  the  admi¬ 
ral  ;  and  paid  no  respect  to  Don  Bartholomew  Columbus,  who 
remained  in  command  during  the  absence  of  his  brother.  The 
Adelantado,  astonished  at  this  presumption,  demanded  a  sight 
of  the  commission  under  which  he  acted ;  but  Aguado  treated 
him  with  great  haughtiness,  replying  that  he  would  show  it 
only  to  the  admiral.  On  second  thought,  however,  lest  there 
should  be  doubts  in  the  public  mind  of  his  right  to  interfere  in 
the  affairs  of  the  colony,  he  ordered  his  letters  of  credence  from 
the  sovereigns  to  be  pompously  proclaimed  by  sound  of  trum- 


840 


LIFE  OF  CIIllISTOPlIER  COLUMBUS. 


pet.  It  was  brief  but  comprehensive,  to  the  following  purport: 
“  Cavaliers,  esquires,  and  other  persons,  who  by  our  orders  are 
in  the  Indies,  we  send  to  you  Juan  Aguado,  our  groom  of  the 
chambers,  who  will  speak  to  you  on  our  part.  We  command 
you  to  give  him  faith  and  credit.” 

The  report  now  circulated  that  the  downfall  of  Columbus  and 
his  family  was  at  hand,  and  that  an  auditor  had  arrived,  em¬ 
powered  to  hear  and  to  redress  the  grievances  of  the  public. 
This  rumor  originated  with  Aguado  himself,  who  threw  out 
menaces  of  rigid  investigations  and  signal  punishments.  It  was 
a  time  of  jubilee  for  offenders.  Every  culprit  started  up  into  an 
accuser ;  every  one  who  by  negligence  or  crime  had  incurred  the 
wholesome  penalties  of  the  laws,  was  loud  in  his  clamors  against 
the  oppression  of  Columbus.  There  were  ills  enough  in  the  col¬ 
ony,  some  incident  to  its  situation,  others  produced  by  the  mis¬ 
deeds  of  the  colonists,  but  all  were  ascribed  to  the  mal-adminis- 
tration  of  the  admiral.  He  was  made  responsible  alike  for  the 
evils  produced  by  others  and  for  his  own  stern  remedies.  All 
the  old  complaints  were  reiterated  against  him  and  his  brothers, 
and  the  usual  and  illiberal  cause  given  for  their  oppressions, 
that  they  were  foreigners,  who  sought  merely  their  own  inter¬ 
ests  and  aggrandizement,  at  the  expense  of  the  sufferings  and 
the  indignities  of  Spaniards. 

Destitute  of  discrimination  to  perceive  what  was  true  and 
what  false  in  these  complaints,  and  anxious  only  to  condemn, 
Aguado  saw  in  everything  conclusive  testimony  of  the  culpa¬ 
bility  of  Columbus.  He  intimated,  and  perhaps  thought,  that 
the  admiral  was  keeping  at  a  distance  from  Isabella,  through 
fear  of  encountering  his  investigations.  In  the  fulness  of  his 
presumption,  he  even  set  out  with  a  body  of  horse  to  go  in 
quest  of  him.  A  vain  and  weak  man  in  power  is  prone  to  em¬ 
ploy  satellites  of  his  own  description.  The  arrogant  and  boast¬ 
ing  followers  of  Aguado,  wherever  they  went,  spread  rumors 
among  the  natives  of  the  might  and  importance  of  their  chief, 
and  of  the  punishment  he  intended  to  inflict  upon  Columbus. 
In  a  little  while  the  report  circulated  through  the  island  that  a 
new  admiral  had  arrived  to  administer  the  government,  and 
that  the  former  one  was  to  be  put  to  death. 

The  news  of  the  arrival  and  of  the  insolent  conduct  of  Aguado 
reached  Columbus  in  the  interior  of  the  island ;  he  immediately 
hastened  to  Isabella  to  give  him  a  meeting.  Aguado,  hearing 
of  his  approach,  also  returned  there.  As  every  one  knew  the 
lofty  spirit  of  Columbus,  his  high  sense  of  his  services,  and  his 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS, 


341 


jealous  maintenance  of  his  official  dignity,  a  violent  explosion 
was  anticipated  at  the  impending  interview.  Aguado  also  ex¬ 
pected  something  of  the  kind,  but,  secure  in  his  royal  letter  of 
credence,  he  looked  forward  with  the  ignorant  audacity  of  a 
little  mind  to  the  result.  The  sequel  showed  how  difficult  it  is 
for  petty  spirits  to  anticipate  the  conduct  of  a  man  like  Colum¬ 
bus  in  an  extraordinary  situation.  His  natural  heat  and  im¬ 
petuosity  had  been  subdued  by  a  life  of  trials ;  he  had  learned 
to  bring  his  passions  into  subjection  to  his  judgment-;  he  had 
too  true  an  estimate  of  his  own  dignity  to  enter  into  a  contest 
with  a  shallow  boaster  like  Aguado ;  above  all,  he  had  a  pro¬ 
found  respect  for  the  authority  of  his  sovereigns ;  for  in  his  en¬ 
thusiastic  spirit,  prone  to  deep  f eelings  of  reverence,  his  loyalty 
was  inferior  only  to  his  religion.  He  received  Aguado,  there¬ 
fore,  with  grave  and  punctilious  courtesy ;  and  retorted  upon 
him  his  own  ostentatious  ceremonial,  ordering  that  the  letter 
of  credence  should  be  again  proclaimed  by  sound  of  trumpet  in 
presence  of  the  populace.  He  listened  to  it  with  solemn  defer¬ 
ence,  and  assured  Aguado  of  his  readiness  to  acquiesce  in  what¬ 
ever  might  be  the  pleasure  of  his  sovereigns. 

This  unexpected  moderation,  while  it  astonished  the  beholders, 
foiled  and  disappointed  Aguado.  He  had  come  prepared  for  a 
scene  of  altercation,  and  had  hoped  that  Columbus,  in  the  heat 
and  impatience  of  the  moment,  would  have  said  or  done  some¬ 
thing  that  might  be  construed  into  disrespect  for  the  authority 
of  the  sovereigns.  He  endeavored,  in  fact,  some  months  after¬ 
ward,  to  procure  from  the  public  notaries  present,  a  prejudicial 
statement  of  the  interview ;  but  the  deference  of  the  admiral 
for  the  royal  letter  of  credence  had  been  too  marked  to  be  dis¬ 
puted  ;  and  all  the  testimonials  were  highly  in  his  favor.* 

Aguado  continued  to  intermeddle  in  public  affairs,  and  the 
respect  and  forbearance  with  which  he  was  uniformly  treated 
by  Columbus,  and  the  mildness  of  the  latter  in  all  his  measures 
to  appease  the  discontents  of  the  colony,  were  regarded  as 
proofs  of  his  loss  of  moral  courage.  He  was  looked  upon  as  a 
declining  man,  and  Aguado  hailed  as  the  lord  of  the  ascendant. 
Every  dastard  spirit  who  had  any  lurking  ill-will,  any  real  or 
imaginary  cause  of  complaint,  now  hastened  to  give  it  utter¬ 
ance  ;  perceiving  that,  in  gratifying  his  malice,  he  was  promot¬ 
ing  his  interest,  and  that  in  vilifying  the  admiral  he  was  gain¬ 
ing  the  friendship  of  Aguado. 


*  Herrera,  Hist.  Ind.,  decad.  i,  Jib.  ii.  cap.  18. 


342 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


The  poor  Indians,  too,  harassed  by  the  domination  of  the 
white  men,  rejoiced  in  the  prospect  of  a  change  of  rulers,  vainly 
hoping  that  it  might  produce  a  mitigation  of  their  sufferings. 
Many  of  the  caciques  who  had  promised  allegiance  to  the  admi¬ 
ral  after  their  defeat  in  the  Vega,  now  assembled  at  the  house 
of  Manicaotex,  the  brother  of  Caonabo,  near  the  river  Yagui, 
where  they  joined  in  a  formal  complaint  against  Columbus, 
whom  they  considered  the  cause  of  all  the  evils  which  had 
sprung  from  the  disobedience  and  the  vices  of  his  followers. 

Aguado  now  considered  the  great  object  of  his  mission  ful¬ 
filled.  He  had  collected  information  sufficient,  as  he  thought, 
to  insure  the  ruin  of  the  admiral  and  his  brothers,  and  he  pre¬ 
pared  to  return  to  Spain.  Columbus  resolved  to  do  the  same. 
He  felt  that  it  was  time  to  appear  at  court,  and  dispel  the  cloud 
of  calumny  gathering  against  him.  He  had  active  enemies,  of 
standing  and  influence,  who  were  seeking  every  occasion  to 
throw  discredit  upon  himself  and  his  enterprises ;  and,  stranger 
and  foreigner  as  he  was,  he  had  no  active  friends  at  court  to 
oppose  their  machinations.  He  feared  that  they  might  eventu¬ 
ally  produce  an  affect  upon  the  royal  mind  fatal  to  the  progress 
of  discovery ;  he  was  anxious  to  return,  therefore,  and  explain 
the  real  causes  of  the  repeated  disappointments  with  respect  to 
profits  anticipated  from  his  enterprises.  It  is  not  one  of  the 
least  singular  traits  in  this  history  that,  after  having  been  so 
many  years  in  persuading  mankind  that  there  was  a  new 
world  to  be  discovered,  he  had  almost  equal  trouble  in  proving 
to  them  the  advantage  of  its  discovery. 

When  the  ships  were  ready  to  depart,  a  terrible  storm  swept 
the  island.  It  was  one  of  those  awful  whirlwinds  which  occa¬ 
sionally  rage  within  the  tropics,  and  were  called  by  the  Indians 
“  furricanes,  ”  or  “uricans,”  a  name  they  still  retain  with 
trilling  variation.  About  midday  a  furious  wind  sprang  up 
from  the  east,  driving  before  it  dense  volumes  of  cloud  and 
vapor.  Encountering  another  tempest  of  wind  from  the  west, 
it  appeared  as  if  a  violent  conflict  ensued.  The  clouds  were 
rent  by  incessant  flashes,  or  rather  streams  of  lightning.  At 
one  time  they  were  piled  up  high  in  the  sky,  at  another  they 
swept  to  the  earth  filling  the  air  with  a  baleful  darkness  more 
dismal  than  the  obscurity  of  midnight.  Wherever  the  whirl¬ 
wind  passed,  whole  tracts  of  forests  were  shivered  and  stripped 
of  their  leaves  and  branches ;  those  of  gigantic  size,  which  re¬ 
sisted  the  blast,  were  torn  up  by  the  roots,  and  hurled  to  a 
great  distance.  Groves  were  rent  from  the  mo  cm  tain  preci- 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


843 


pices,  with  vast  masses  of  earth  and  rock,  tumbling  into  the 
valleys  with  terrific  noise,  and  choking  the  course  of  rivers. 
The  fearful  sounds  in  the  air  and  on  the  earth,  the  pealing 
thunder,  the  vivid  lightning,  the  howling  of  the  wind,  the  crash 
of  falling  trees  and  rocks,  filled  every  one  with  affright ;  and 
many  thought  that  the  end  of  the  world  was  at  hand.  Some 
fled  to  caverns  for  safety,  for  their  frail  houses  were  blown 
down,  and  the  air  was  filled  with  the  trunks  and  branches  of 
trees,  and  even  with  fragments  of  rocks,  carried  along  by  the 
fury  of  the  tempest.  When  the  hurricane  reached  the  harbor, 
it  whirled  the  ships  round  as  they  lay  at  anchor,  snapped  their 
cables,  and  sank  three  of  them,  with  all  who  were  on  board. 
Others  were  driven  about,  dashed  against  each  other,  and 
tossed  mere  wrecks  upon  the  shore  by  the  swelling  surges  of 
the  sea,  which  in  some  places  rolled  for  three  or  four  miles 
upon  the  land.  The  tempest  lasted  for  three  hours.  When  it 
had  passed  away,  and  the  sun  again  appeared,  the  Indians 
regarded  each  other  in  mute  astonishment  and  dismay. 
Never  in  their  memory,  nor  in  the  traditions  of  their  ancestors, 
had  their  island  been  visited  by  such  a  storm.  They  believed 
that  the  Deity  had  sent  this  fearful  ruin  to  punish  the  cruelties 
and  crimes  of  the  white  men,  and  declared  that  this  people 
had  moved  the  very  air,  the  water,  and  the  earth,  to  disturb 
their  tranquil  life,  and  to  desolate  their  island.* 


CHAPTER  X. 

DISCOVERY  OF  THE  MINES  OF  HAYNA. 

[1496.] 

In  the  recent  hurricane  the  four  caravels  of  Aguado  had  been 
destroyed,  together  with  two  others  which  were  in  the  harbor. 
The  only  vessel  which  survived  was  the  Nina,  and  that  in  a  very 
shattered  condition.  Columbus  gave  orders  to  have  her  im~ 
mediately  repaired,  and  another  caravel  constructed  out  of  the 
wreck  of  those  which  had  been  destroyed.  While  waiting 
until  they  should  be  ready  for  sea,  he  was  cheered  by  tidings  of 
rich  mines  in  the  interior  of  the  island,  the  discovery  of  which 


*  Ramusio,  tom.  iii.  p.  7.  Peter  Martyr,  decad,  i.  lib.  iv. 


344 


LIFE  OF  CURISTOniER  COLUMBUS. 


is  attributed  to  an  incident  of  a  somewhat  romantic  nature.* 
A  young  Arragonian,  named  Miguel  Diaz,  in  the  service  of  the 
Adelantado,  having  a  quarrel  with  another  Spaniard,  fought 
with  him  and  wounded  him  dangerously.  Fearful  of  the  con¬ 
sequences,  he  fled  from  the  settlement,  accompanied  by  five  or 
six  comrades  who  had  either  been  engaged  in  the  affray,  or 
were  personally  attached  to  him.  Wandering  about  the  island, 
they  came  to  an  Indian  village  on  the  southern  coast,  near  the 
mouth  of  the  river  Ozema,  where  the  city  of  San  Domingo  is 
at  present  situated.  They  were  received  with  kindness  by  the 
natives,  and  resided  for  some  time  among  them.  The  village 
was  governed  by  a  female  cacique,  who  soon  conceived  a  strong 
attachment  for  the  young  Arragonian.  Diaz  was  not  insensible 
to  her  tenderness ;  a  connection  was  formed  between  them,  and 
they  lived  for  some  time  very  happily  together. 

The  recollection  of  his  country  and  his  friends  began  at  length 
to  steal  upon  the  thoughts  of  the  young  Spaniard.  It  was  a 
melancholy  lot  to  be  exiled  from  civilized  life,  and  an  outcast 
from  among  his  countrymen.  He  longed  to  return  to  the 
settlement,  but  dreaded  the  punishment  that  awaited  him, 
from  the  austere  justice  of  the  Adelantado.  His  Indian  bride, 
observing  him  frequently  melancholy  and  lost  in  thought,  pene¬ 
trated  the  cause,  with  the  quick  intelligence  of  female  affection. 
Fearful  that  he  would  abandon  her,  and  return  to  his  country¬ 
men,  she  endeavored  to  devise  some  means  of  drawing  the 
Spaniards  to  that  part  of  the  island.  Knowing  that  gold  was 
their  sovereign  attraction,  she  informed  Diaz  of  certain  rich 
mines  in  the  neighborhood,  and  urged  him  to  persuade  his 
countrymen  to  abandon  the  comparatively  sterile  and  un¬ 
healthy  vicinity  of  Isabella,  and  settle  upon  the  fertile  banks 
of  the  Ozema,  promising  they  should  be  received  with  the 
utmost  kindness  and  hospitality  by  her  nation. 

Struck  with  the  suggestion,  Diaz  made  particular  inquiries 
about  the  mines,  and  was  convinced  that  they  abounded  in  gold. 
He  noticed  the  superior  fruitfulness  and  beauty  of  the  country, 
the  excellence  of  the  river,  and  the  security  of  the  harbor  at  its 
entrance.  He  flattered  himself  that  the  communication  of  such 
valuable  intelligence  would  make  his  peace  at  Isabella,  and 
obtain  his  pardon  from  the  Adelantado.  Full  of  these  hopes, 
he  procured  guides  from  among  the  natives,  and  taking  a  tem¬ 
porary  leave  of  his  Indian  bride,  set  out  with  his  comrades 


*  Oviedo,  Cronica  do  loa  Indias,  lib.  ii.  cap.  13. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


345 


through  the  wilderness  for  the  settlement,  which  was  about 
fifty  leagues  distant.  Arriving  there  secretly,  he  learnt  to  his 
great  joy  that  the  man  whom  he  had  wounded  had  recovered. 
He  now  presented  himself  boldly  before  the  A  delantado,  relying 
that  his  tidings  would  earn  his  forgivenness.  He  was  not  mis¬ 
taken.  No  news  could  have  come  more  opportunely.  The 
admiral  had  been  anxious  to  remove  the  settlement  to  a  more 
healthy  and  advantageous  situation.  He  was  desirous  also  of 
carrying  home  some  conclusive  proof  of  the  riches  of  the  island, 
as  the  most  effectual  means  of  silencing  the  cavils  of  his  enemies. 
If  the  representations  of  Miguel  Diaz  were  correct,  here  was  a 
means  of  effecting  both  these  purposes.  Measures  were  imme¬ 
diately  taken  to  ascertain  the  truth.  The  Adelantado  set  forth 
in  person  to  visit  the  river  Ozema,  accompanied  by  Miguel  Diaz, 
Francisco  de  Garay,  and  the  Indian  guides,  and  attended  by  a 
number  of  men  well  armed.  They  proceeded  from  Isabella  to 
Magdalena,  and  thence  across  the  Royal  Vega  to  the  fortress  of 
Conception.  Continuing  on  to  the  south,  they  came  to  a  range 
of  mountains,  which  they  traversed  by  a  defile  two  leagues  in 
length,  and  descended  into  another  beautiful  plain,  which  was 
called  Bonao.  Proceeding  hence  for  some  distance,  they  came 
to  a  great  river  called  Hayna,  running  through  a  fertile  country, 
all  the  streams  of  which  abounded  in  gold.  On  the  western 
bank  of  this  river,  and  about  eight  leagues  from  its  mouth,  they 
found  gold  in  greater  quantities  and  in  larger  particles  than  had 
yet  been  met  with  in  any  part  of  the  island,  not  even  excepting 
the  province  of  Cibao.  They  made  experiments  in  various  places 
within  the  compass  of  six  miles,  and  always  with  success.  The 
soil  seemed  to  be  generally  impregnated  with  that  metal,  so 
that  a  common  laborer,  with  little  trouble,  might  find  the 
amount  of  three  drachms  in  the  course  of  a  day.*  In  several 
places  they  observed  deep  excavations  in  the  form  of  pits, 
which  looked  as  if  the  mines  had  been  worked  in  ancient  times, 
a  circumstance  which  caused  much  speculation  among  the 
Spaniards,  the  natives  having  no  idea  of  mining,  but  contenting 
themselves  with  the  particles  found  on  the  surface  of  the  soil, 
or  in  the  beds  of  the  rivers. 

The  Indians  of  the  neighborhood  received  the  white  men 
with  their  promised  friendship,  and  in  every  respect  the  repre¬ 
sentations  of  Miguel  Diaz  were  fully  justified.  He  was  not 
only  pardoned,  but  received  into  great  favor,  and  was  subse- 


*  Herrera,  Hist.  Ind.,  decad.  i.  lib.  ii.  cap.  18.  Peter  Martyr,  decad.  1.  lib.  ir 


r>  i  n> 
t  •  L  vj 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


quently  employed  in  various  capacities  in  the  island,  in  all 
which  he  acquitted  himself  with  great  fidelity.  He  kept  his 
faith  with  his  Indian  bride,  by  whom,  according  to  Oviedo,  he 
had  two  children.  Charlevoix  supposes  that  they  were  regu¬ 
larly  married,  as  the  female  cacique  appears  to  have  been 
baptized,  being  always  mentioned  by  the  Christian  name  of 
Catalina.* 

When  the  Adelantado  returned  with  this  favorable  report, 
and  with  specimens  of  ore,  the  anxious  heart  of  the  admiral 
was  greatly  elated.  He  gave  orders  that  a  fortress  should  be 
Immediately  erected  on  the  banks  of  the  Hayna,  in  the  vicinity 
of  the' mines,  and  that  they  should  be  diligently  worked.  The 
fancied  traces  of  ancient  excavations  gave  rise  to  one  of  his 
usual  veins  of  golden  conjectures.  He  had  already  surmised 
that  Hispaniola  might  be  the  ancient  Ophir.  He  now  flattered 
himself  that  he  had  discovered  the  identical  mines  whence 
King  Solomon  nad  procured  his  gold  for  the  building  of  the 
Temple  of  Jerusalem.  He  supposed  that  his  ships  must  have 
sailed  by  the  Gulf  of  Persia,  and  around  Trapoban  to  this 
island,!  which,  according  to  his  idea,  lay  opposite  to  the  ex¬ 
treme  end  of  Asia,  for  such  he  firmly  believed  the  island  of 
Cuba. 

It  is  probable  that  Columbus  gave  free  license  to  his  imagina¬ 
tion  in  these  conjectures,  which  tended  to  throw  a  splendor 
about  his  enterprises,  and  to  revive  the  languishing  interest  of 
the  public.  Granting,  however,  the  correctness  of  his  opinion, 
that  he  was  in  the  vicinity  of  Asia,  an  error  by  no  means  sur¬ 
prising  in  the  imperfect  state  of  geographical  knowledge,  all 
his  consequent  suppositions  were  far  from  extravagant.  The 
ancient  Ophir  was  believed  to  lie  somewhere  in  the  East,  but 
its  situation  was  a  matter  of  controversy  among  the  learned, 
and  remains  one  of  those  conjectural  questions  about  which  too 
much  has  been  written  for  it  ever  to  be  satisfactorily  decided. 


*  Oviedo,  Cronica  de  los  Indias,  lib.  ii.  cap.  13.  Charlevoix,  Hist.  St.  Domingo^ 
lib.  ii.  p.  146. 

t  Peter  Martyr,  decad.  i.  lib.  iv. 


BOOK  IX. 


CHAPTER  I. 

RETURN  OF  COLUMBUS  TO  SPAIN  WITH  AGUADO. 

[1496.] 

The  new  caravel,  the  Santa  Cruz,  being  finished,  and  the 
Nina  repaired,  Columbus  made  every  arrangement  for  imme¬ 
diate  departure,  anxious  to  be  freed  from  the  growing 
arrogance  of  Aguado,  and  to  relieve  the  colony  from  a  crew  of 
factious  and  discontented  men.  He  appointed  his  brother,  Don 
Bartholomew,  to  the  command  of  the  island,  with  the  title, 
which  he  had  already  given  him,  of  Adelantado ;  in  case  of  his 
death,  he  was  to  be  succeeded  by  his  brother  Don  Diego. 

On  the  10th  of  March  the  two  caravels  set  sail  for  Spain,  hi 
one  of  which  Columbus  embarked,  and  in  the  other  Aguado. 
In  consequence  of  the  orders  of  the  sovereigns,  all  those  who 
could  be  spared  from  the  island,  and  some  who  had  wives  and 
relatives  in  Spain  whom  they  wished  to  visit,  returned  in  these 
caravels,  which  were  crowded  with  two  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  passengers,  the  sick,  the  idle,  the  profligate,  and  the 
factious.  Never  did  a  more  miserable  and  disappointed  crew 
return  from  a  land  of  promise. 

There  were  thirty  Indians  also  on  board  of  the  caravels, 
among  whom  were  the  once  redoubtable  cacique  Caonabo,  one 
of  his  brothers,  and  a  nephew.  The  curate  of  Los  Palacios  ob¬ 
served  that  Columbus  had  promised  the  cacique  and  his  brother 
so  restore  them  to  their  country  and  their  power,  after  he  had 
taken  them  to  visit  the  King  and  Queen  of  Castile.*  It  is 
probable  that  by  kind  treatment  and  by  a  display  of  the  won¬ 
ders  of  Spain  and  the  grandeur  and  might  of  its  sovereigns,  he 


*  Cura  de  los  Palacios,  cap.  131. 


348 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


hoped  to  conquer  their  enmity  to  the  Spaniards,  and  convert 
them  into  important  instruments  towards  obtaining  a  secure 
and  peaceable  dominion  over  the  island.  Caonabo,  however, 
was  of  that  proud  nature,  of  wild  but  vigorous  growth,  which 
can  never  be  tamed.  He  remained  a  moody  and  dejected  cap¬ 
tive.  He  had  too  much  intelligence  not  to  perceive  that  his 
power  was  for  ever  blasted,  but  he  retained  his  haughtiness, 
even  in  the  midst  of  his  despair. 

Being  as  yet  but  little  experienced  in  the  navigation  of  these 
seas,  Columbus,  instead  of  working  up  to  the  northward,  so  as 
to  fall  in  with  the  tract  of  westerly  winds,  took  an  easterly 
course  on  leaving  the  island.  The  consequence  was  that  almost 
the  whole  of  his  voyage  was  a  toilsome  and  tedious  struggle 
against  the  trade-winds  and  calms  which  prevail  between  the 
tropics.  On  the  Cth  of  April  he  found  himself  still  in  the 
vicinity  ol  the  Caribbee  Islands,  with  his  crews  fatigued  and 
sickly,  and  his  provisions  rapidly  diminishing.  He  bore  away 
to  the  southward,  therefore,  to  touch  at  the  most  important  of 
those  islands,  in  search  of  supplies. 

On  Saturday,  the  9th,  he  anchored  at  Marigalante,  whence, 
on  the  following  day,  he  made  sail  for  Guadaloupe.  It  was 
contrary  to  the  custom  of  Colnmbus  to  weigh  anchor  on  Sun¬ 
day,  when  in  port,  but  the  people  murmured,  and  observed 
that  when  in  quest  of  food  it  was  no  time  to  stand  on  scruples 
as  to  holy  days.* 

Anchoring  off  the  island  of  Guadaloupe,  the  boat  was  sent  on 
shore  well  armed.  Before  it  could  reach  the  land,  a  large  num¬ 
ber  of  females  Issued  from  the  woods,  armed  with  bows  and  ar¬ 
rows,  and  decorated  with  tufts  of  feathers,  preparing  to  oppose 
any  descent  upon  their  shores.  As  the  sea  was  somewhat 
rough,  and  a  surf  broke  upon  the  beach,  the  boats  remained  at 
a  distance,  and  two  of  the  Indians  from  Hispaniola  swam  to 
shore.  Having  explained  to  these  Amazons  that  the  Spaniards 
only  sought  provisions,  in  exchange  for  which  they  would  give 
articles  of  great  value,  the  women  referred  them  to  their 
husbands,  who  were  at  the  northern  end  of  the  island.  As  the 
boats  proceeded  thither,  numbers  of  the  natives  were  seen  on 
the  beach,  who  manifested  great  ferocity,  shouting,  and  yelling, 
and  discharging  flights  of  arrows,  which,  however,  fell  far 
short  in  the  water.  Seeing  the  boats  approach  the  land,  they 
hid  themselves  in  the  adjacent  forest,  and  rushed  forth  with 


*  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  63, 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


349 


hideous  cries  as  the  Spaniards  were  landing.  A  discharge  or 
firearms  drove  them  to  the  woods  and  mountains,  and  the  boa  os 

f 

met  with  no  further  opposition.  Entering  the  deserted  habita¬ 
tions,  the  Spaniards  began  to  plunder  and  destroy,  contrary  id 
the  invariable  injunctions  of  the  admiral.  Among  other  articles 
found  in  these  houses  were  honey  and  wax,  which  Herrera 
supposes  had  been  brought  from  Terra  Firma,  as  these  roving 
people  collected  the  productions  of  distant  regions  in  the  course 
of  their  expeditions.  Fernando  Columbus  mentions  likewise 
that  there  were  hatchets  of  iron  in  their  houses ;  these,  how¬ 
ever,  must  have  been  made  of  a  species  of  hard  and  heavy 
stone,  already  mentioned,  which  resembled  iron ;  or  they  must 
have  been  procured  from  places  which  the  Spaniards  had  pre¬ 
viously  visited,  as  it  is  fully  admitted  that  no  iron  was  in  use 
among  the  natives  prior  to  the  discovery.  The  sailors  also 
reported  that  in  one  of  the  houses  they  found  the  arm  of  a  man 
roasting  on  a  spit  before  a  fire ;  hut  these  facts,  so  repugnant  to 
humanity,  require  more  solid  authority  to  be  credited;  the 
sailors  had  committed  wanton  devastations  in  these  dwellings, 
and  may  have  sought  a  pretext  with  which  to  justify  their 
maraudings  to  the  admiral. 

While  some  of  the  people  were  getting  wood  and  water,  and 
making  cassava  bread,  Columbus  dispatched  forty  men,  well 
armed,  to  explore  the  interior  of  the  island.  They  returned  on 
the  following  day  with  ten  women  and  three  hoys.  The  women 
were  of  large  and  powerful  form,  yet  of  great  agility.  They 
were  naked,  and  wore  their  long  hair  flowing  loose  upon  their 
shoulders ;  some  decorated  their  heads  with  plumes  of  various 
colors.  Among  them  was  the  wife  of  a  cacique,  a  woman  of 
great  strength  and  proud  spirit.  On  tne  approach  of  the  Span¬ 
iards,  she  had  fled  with  an  agility  which  soon  left  all  her  pur¬ 
suers  far  beliind,  excepting  a  native  of  the  Canary  Islands, 
remarkable  for  swiftness  of  foot.  She  would  have  escaped  even 
from  him,  but  perceiving  that  he  was  alone,  and  far  from  his 
companions,  she  turned  suddenly  on  him,  seized  him  with 
astonishing  force,  and  would  have  strangled  him,  had  not  the 
Spaniards  arrived  and  taken  her  entangled  like  a  hawk  with  her 
prey.  The  warlike  spirit  of  these  Carib  women,  and  the 
circumstance  of  finding  them  in  armed  bands  defending  their 
shores,  during  the  absence  of  their  husbands,  led  Columbus 
repeatedly  into  the  erroneous  idea,  that  certain  of  these  islands 
were  inhabited  entirely  by  women;  for  which  error,  as  has 
already  been  observed,  he  was  prepared  by  the  stories  of 


350 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. » 


Marco  Polo  concerning  an  island  of  Amazons  near  the  coast 
of  Asia. 

Having  remained  several  days  at  the  island,  and  prepared 
three  weeks’  supply  of  bread,  Columbus  prepared  to  make  sail. 
As  Guadaloupe  was  the  most  important  of  the  Caribbee  Islands, 
and  in  a  manner  the  portal  or  entrance  to  all  the  rest,  ho 
wished  to  secure  the  friendship  of  the  inhabitants.  He 
dismissed,  therefore,  all  the  prisoners,  with  many  presents,  to 
compensate  for  the  spoil  and  injury  which  had  been  done. 
The  female  cacique,  however,  declined  going  on  shore,  prefer¬ 
ring  to  remain  and  accompany  the  natives  of  Hispaniola  who 
were  on  board,  keeping  with  her  also  a  young  daughter. 
She  had  conceived  a  passion  for  Caonabo,  having  found  out 
that  he  was  a  native  of  the  Caribbee  Islands.  His  character  and 
story,  gathered  from  the  other  Indians,  had  won  the  sympathy 
and  admiration  of  this  intrepid  woman.  * 

Leaving  Guadaloupe  on  the  20th  of  April,  and  keeping  in 
about  the  twenty-second  degree  of  latitude,  the  caravels  again 
worked  their  way  against  the  whole  current  of  the  trade-winds, 
insomuch  that,  on  he  20th  of  May,  after  a  month  of  great 
fatigue  and  toil,  they  had  yet  a  great  part  of  their  voyage  to 
make.  The  provisions  were  already  so  reduced  that  Columbus 
had  to  put  every  one  on  a  daily  allowance  of  six  ounces  of 
bread  and  a  pint  and  a  half  of  water ;  as  they  advanced,  the 
scarcity  grew  more  and  more  severe,  and  was  rendered  more 
appalling  from  the  uncertainty  which  prevailed  on  board  the 
vessels  as  to  their  situation.  There  were  several  pilots  in  the 
caravels ;  but  being  chiefly  accustomed  to  the  navigation  of 
the  Mediterranean,  or  the  Atlantic  coasts,  they  were  utterly 
confounded,  and  lost  all  reckoning  when  traversing  the  broad 
ocean.  Every  one  had  a  separate  opinion,  and  none  heeded 
that  of  the  admiral.  By  the  beginning  of  June  there  was  an 
absolute  famine  on  board  of  the  ships.  In  the  extremity  of 
their  sufferings,  while  death  stared  them  in  the  face,  it  was 
proposed  by  some  of  the  Spaniards,  as  a  desperate  alternative, 
that  they  should  kill  and  eat  their  Indian  prisoners ;  others 
suggested  that  they  should  throw  them  into  the  sea,  as  so  many 
expensive  and  useless  mouths.  Nothing  but  the  absolute 
authority  of  Columbus  prevented  this  last  counsel  from  being 
adopted.  He  represented  that  the  Indians  were  their  fellow 
beings,  some  of  them  Christians  like  themselves,  and  all 


*  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  63. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


351 


entitled  to  similar  treatment.  He  exhorted  them  to  a  little 
patience,  assuring  them  that  they  would  ^oon  make  land,  for 
that,  according  to  his  reckoning,  they  were  not  far  from  Cape 
St.  Vincent.  At  this  all  scoffed,  for  they  believed  themselves 
yet  far  from  their  desired  haven;  some  affirming  that  they 
were  in  the  English  Channel,  others  that  they  were  approach¬ 
ing  Gallicia;  when  Columbus,  therefore,  confident  in  his 
opinion,  ordered  that  sail  should  be  taken  in  at  night,  lest  they 
should  come  upon  the  land  in  the  dark,  there  was  a  general 
murmur ;  the  men  exclaiming  that  it  was  better  to  be  cast  on 
shore  than  to  starve  at  sea.  The  next  morning,  however,  to 
their  great  joy,  they  came  in  sight  of  the  very  land  which 
Columbus  had  predicted.  From  this  time  he  was  regarded  by 
the  seamen  as  deeply  versed  in  the  mysteries  of  the  ocean,  and 
almost  oracular  in  matters  of  navigation.* 

On  the  11th  of  June  the  vessels  anchored  in  the  Bay  of  Cadiz, 
after  a  weary  voyage  of  about  three  months.  In  the  course  of 
this  voyage  the  unfortunate  Caonabo  expired.  It  is  by  the 
mere  casual  mention  of  contemporary  writers  that  we  have  any 
notice  of  this  circumstance,  which  appears  to  have  been  passed 
over  as  a  matter  of  but  little  moment.  He  maintained  his 
haughty  nature  to  the  last,  for  his  death  is  principally  ascribed 
to  the  morbid  melancholy  of  a  proud  but  broken  spirit,  f  He 
was  an  extraordinary  character  in  savage  life.  From  being  a 
simple  Carib  warrior  he  had  risen,  by  his  enterprise  and  cour¬ 
age,  to  be  the  most  powerful  cacique,  and  the  dominant  spirit 
of  the  populous  island  of  Hayti.  He  was  the  only  chieftain 
that  appeared  to  have  had  sagacity  sufficient  to  forsee  the  fatal 
effects  of  Spanish  ascendency,  or  military  talent  to  combine  any 
resistance  to  its  inroads.  Had  his  warriors  been  of  his  own 
intrepid  nature,  the  war  which  he  raised  would  have  been  for¬ 
midable  in  the  extreme.  His  fate  furnishes,  on  a  narrow  scale, 
a  lesson  to  human  greatness.  When  the  Spaniards  first  arrived 
on  the  coast  of  Hayti,  their  imaginations  were  inflamed  with 
rumors  of  a  magnificent  prince  in  the  interior,  the  lord  of  the 
Golden  House,  the  sovereign  of  the  mines  of  Cibao,  who  reigned 
in  splendid  state  among  the  mountains ;  but  a  short  time  had 


*  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  63. 

tCura  de  los  Palacios,  cap.  131.  Peter  Martyr,  decad.  i.  lib.  iv.  Some  hays 
affirmed  that  Caonabo  perished  in  one  of  the  caravels  which  foundered  in  the  harbor 
of  Isabella  during  the  hurricane,  but  the  united  testimony  of  the  curate  of  Los 
Palacios,  Peter  Martyr,  and  Fernando  Columbus,  proves  that  he  sailed  with  the 
admiral  in  his  return  voyage 


352 


LIFE  OF  CHRIS  TO  PEER  COLUMBUS. 


elapsed,  and  this  fancied  potentate  of  the  East,  stripped  of  every 
illusion,  was  a  naked  and  dejected  prisoner  on  the  deck  of  on© 
of  their  caravels,  with  none  but  one  of  his  own  wild  native 
heroines  to  sympathize  in  his  misfortunes.  All  his  importance 
vanished  with  his  freedom ;  scarce  any  mention  is  made  of  him 
during  his  captivity,  and  with  innate  qualities  of  a  high  and 
heroic  nature,  he  perished  with  the  obscurity  of  one  of  the 
vulgar. 


CHAPTER  II. 

DECLINE  OF  THE  POPULARITY  OF  COLUMBUS  IN  SPAIN— HIS 
RECEPTION  BY  THE  SOVEREIGNS  AT  BURGOS— HE  PROPOSES  A 
THIRD  VOYAGE. 

Envy  and  malice  had  been  but  too  successful  in  undermining 
the  popularity  of  Columbus.  It  is  impossible  to  keep  up  a  state 
of  excitement  for  any  length  of  time,  even  by  miracles.  The 
world,  at  first,  is  prompt  and  lavish  in  its  admiration,  but  soon 
grows  cool,  distrusts  its  late  enthusiasm,  and  fancies  it  has  been 
defrauded  of  what  it  bestowed  with  such  prodigality.  It  is 
then  that  the  cavalier  who  had  been  silenced  by  the  general  ap¬ 
plause,  puts  in  his  insidious  suggestion,  detracts  from  the  merit 
of  the  declining  favorite,  and  succeeds  in  rendering  him  an  ob¬ 
ject  of  doubt  and  censure,  if  not  of  absolute  aversion.  In  three 
short  years  the  public  had  become  familiar  with  the  stupen¬ 
dous  wonder  of  a  newly -discovered  world,  and  was  now  open 
to  every  insinuation  derogatory  to  the  fame  of  the  discoverer 
and  the  importance  of  his  enterprises. 

The  circumstances  which  attended  the  present  arrival  of 
Columbus  were  little  calculated  to  diminish  the  growing  preju¬ 
dices  of  the  populace.  When  the  motley  crowd  of  mariners 
and  adventurers  who  had  embarked  with  such  sanguine  ex¬ 
pectations  landed  from  the  vessels  in  the  port  of  Cadiz,  instead 
of  a  joyous  crew,  bounding  on  shore,  flushed  with  success,  and 
laden  with  the  spoils  of  the  golden  Indies,  a  feeble  train  of 
wretched  men  crawled  forth,  emaciated  by  the  diseases  of  the 
colony  and  the  hardships  of  the  voyage,  who  carried  in  their 
yellow  countenances,  says  an  old  writer,  a  mockery  of  that  gold 
which  had  been  the  object  of  their  search,  and  who  had  nothing 
to  relate  of  the  New  World  but  tales  of  sickness,  poverty,  and 
disappointment. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMEUS. 


353 


Columbus  endeavored,  as  much  as  possible,  to  counteract 
these  unfavorable  appearances,  and  to  revive  the  languishing 
enthusiasm  of  the  public.  He  dwelt  upon  the  importance  of 
his  recent  discoveries  along  the  coast  of  Cuba,  where,  as  he 
supposed,  he  had  arrived  nearly  to  the  Aurea  Chersonesus  of 
the  ancients,  bordering  on  some  of  the  richest  provinces  of 
Asia.  Above  all,  he  boasted  of  his  discovery  of  the  abundant 
mines  on  the  south  side  of  Hispaniola,  which  he  persuaded 
himself  were  those  of  the  ancient  Ophir.  The  public  listened 
to  these  accounts  with  sneering  incredulity ;  or  if  for  a  moment 
a  little  excitement  was  occasioned,  it  was  quickly  destroyed  by 
gloomy  pictures  drawn  by  disappointed  adventurers. 

In  the  harbor  of  Cadiz  Columbus  found  three  caravels,  com¬ 
manded  by  Pedro  Alonzo  Nino,  on  the  point  of  sailing  with 
supplies  for  the  colony.  Nearly  a  year  had  elapsed  without 
any  relief  of  the  kind ;  four  caravels  which  had  sailed  on  the 
proceeding  January  having  been  lost  on  the  coast  of  the  Pen¬ 
insula.*  Having  read  the  royal  letters  and  dispatches  of  which 
Nino  was  the  bearer,  and  being  informed  of  the  wishes  of  the 
sovereigns,  as  well  as  of  the  state  of  the  public  mind,  Columbus 
wrote  by  this  opportunity,  urging  the  Adelantado  to  endeavor, 
by  every  means,  to  bring  the  island  into  a  peaceful  and  pro¬ 
ductive  state,  appeasing  all  discontents  and  commotions,  and 
seizing  and  sending  to  Spain  all  caciques,  or  their  subjects, 
who  should  be  concerned  in  the  deaths  of  any  of  the  colonists. 
He  recommended  the  most  unremitting  diligence  in  exploring 
and  working  the  mines  recently  discovered  on  the  river  Hayna, 
and  that  a  place  should  be  chosen  in  the  neighborhood,  and  a 
seaport  founded.  Pedro  Alonzo  Nino  set  sad  with  the  three 
caravels  on  the  17th  of  June. 

Tidings  of  the  arrival  of  Columbus  having  reached  the  sov¬ 
ereigns,  he  received  a  gracious  letter  from  them,  dated  at 
Almazen,  12th  July,  1496;  congratulating  him  on  his  safe 
return,  and  inviting  him  to  court  when  lie  should  have  recov¬ 
ered  from  the  fatigue  of  his  voyage.  The  kind  terms  in  which 
this  letter  was  couched  were  calculated  to  reassure  the  heart  of 
Columbus,  who,  ever  since  the  mission  of  the  arrogant  Aguado, 
had  considered  himself  out  of  favor  with  the  sovereigns,  and 
fallen  into  disgrace.  As  a  proof  of  the  dejection  of  his  spirits, 
we  are  told  that  when  he  made  his  appearance  this  time  in 
Spain,  he  was  clad  in  a  humble  garb,  resembling  in  form  and 


*  Mufioz,  Hist.  N.  Mundo,  lib.  vi. 


354 


LIFE  OF  CUUlSTOrUEli  COLUMBUS. 


color  the  habit  of  a  Franciscan  monk,  simply  girded  with  a 
cord,  and  that  he  had  suffered  his  beard  to  grow  like  the  breth¬ 
ren  of  that  order.* *  This  was  probably  in  fulfilment  of  some 
penitential  vow  made  in  a  moment  of  danger  or  despondency — - 
a  custom  prevalent  in  those  days,  and  frequently  observed  by 
Columbus.  It  betokened,  however,  much  humility  and  depres¬ 
sion  of  spirit,  and  afforded  a  striking  contrast  to  his  appear¬ 
ance  on  his  former  triumphant  return.  He  was  doomed,  in 
fact,  to  yield  repeated  examples  of  the  reverses  to  which  those 
are  subject  who  have  once  launched  from  the  safe  shores  of 
obscurity  on  the  fluctuating  waves  of  popular  opinion. 

However  indifferent  Columbus  might  be  to  his  own  personal 
appearance,  he  was  anxious  to  keep  alive  the  interest  in  his 
discoveries,  fearing  continually  that  the  indifference  awaken¬ 
ing  toward  him  might  impede  their  accomplishment.  On  his 
way  to  Burgos,  therefore,  where  the  sovereigns  were  expected, 
he  made  a  studious  display  of  the  curiosities  and  treasures 
which  he  had  brought  from  the  New  World.  Among  these 
were  collars,  bracelets,  anklets,  and  coronets  of  gold,  the  spoils 
of  various  caciques,  and  which  were  considered  as  trophies 
won  from  barbaric  princes  of  the  rich  coasts  of  Asia,  or  the 
islands  of  the  Indian  seas.  It  is  a  proof  of  the  petty  standard 
by  which  the  sublime  discovery  of  Columbus  was  already  esti¬ 
mated,  that  he  had  to  resort  to  this  management  to  dazzle  the 
gross  perceptions  of  the  multitude  by  the  mere  glare  of  gold. 

He  carried  with  him  several  Indians  also,  decorated  after 
their  savage  fashion,  and  glittering  with  golden  ornaments; 
among  whom  were  the  brother  and  nephew  of  Caonabo,  the 
former  about  thirty  years  of  age,  the  latter  only  ten.  They 
were  brought  merely  to  visit  the  king  and  queen,  that  they 
might  be  impressed  with  an  idea  of  the  grandeur  and  power  of 
the  Spanish  sovereigns,  after  which  they  were  to  be  restored 
in  safety  to  their  country.  Whenever  they  passed  through 
any  principal  place,  Columbus  put  a  massive  collar  and  chain 
of  gold  upon  the  brother  of  Caonabo,  as  being  cacique  of  the 
golden  country  of  Cibao.  The  curate  of  Los  Palacios,  who 
entertained  the  discoverer  and  his  Indian  captives  for  several 
days  in  his  house,  says  that  he  had  this  chain  of  gold  in  his 
hands,  and  that  it  weighed  six  hundred  Castellanos,  f  The 


t  Cura  de  los  Palacios,  cap.  131.  Oviedo,  lib.  ii.  cap.  13. 

*  Equivalent  to  the  value  of  three  thousand  one  hundred  and  ninety-five  dollar? 
of  the  present  time. 


%TFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


355 


worthy  curate  likewise  makes  mention  of  various  Indian  masks 
and  images  of  wood  or  cotton,  wrought  with  fantastic  faces  of 
animals,  all  of  which  he  supposed  were  representations  of  the 
devil,  who  he  concludes  must  be  the  object  of  adoration  of 
these  islanders.* 

The  reception  of  Columbus  by  the  sovereigns  was  different 
from  what  he  had  anticipated ;  for  he  was  treated  with  dis¬ 
tinguished  favor,  nor  was  any  mention  made  either  of  the  com¬ 
plaints  of  Margarite  and  Boyle,  or  the  judicial  inquiries  con¬ 
ducted  by  Aguado.  However  these  may  have  had  a  transient 
effect  on  the  minds  of  the  sovereigns,  they  were  too  conscious 
of  the  great  deserts  of  Columbus,  and  the  extraordinary  difficul¬ 
ties  of  his  situation,  not  to  tolerate  what  they  may  have  con¬ 
sidered  errors  on  his  part. 

Encouraged  by  the  favorable  countenance  he  experienced, 
and  by  the  interest  with  which  the  sovereigns  listened  to  his 
account  of  his  recent  voyage  along  the  coast  of  Cuba,  and  the 
discovery  of  the  mines  of  Hayna,  which  he  failed  not  to  repre¬ 
sent  as  the  Ophir  of  the  ancients,  Columbus  now  proposed  a 
further  enterprise,  by  which  he  promised  to  make  yet  more 
extensive  discoveries,  and  to  annex  Terra  Firma  to  their 
dominions.  For  this  purpose  he  asked  eight  ships :  two  to  be 
dispatched  to  the  island  of  Hispaniola  with  supplies,  the 
remaining  six  to  be  put  under  his  command  for  a  voyage  of 
discovery.  The  sovereigns  readily  promised  to  comply  with 
his  request,  and  were  probably  sincere  in  their  intentions  to  do 
so,  but  in  the  performance  of  their  promise  Columbus  was 
doomed  to  meet  with  intolerable  delay ;  partly  in  consequence 
of  the  operation  of  public  events,  partly  in  consequence  of  the 
intrigues  of  men  of  office,  the  two  great  influences  which  are 
continually  diverting  and  defeating  the  designs  of  princes. 

The  resources  of  Spain  were,  at  this  moment,  tasked  to  the 
utmost  by  the  ambition  of  Ferdinand,  who  lavished  all  his 
revenues  in  warlike  expenses  and  in  subsidies.  While  main¬ 
taining  a  contest  of  deep  and  artful  policy  with  France,  with 
the  ultimate  aim  of  grasping  the  sceptre  of  Naples,  he  was 
laying  the  foundation  of  a  wide  and  powerful  connection  by 
the  marriages  of  the  royal  children,  who  were  now  maturing 
in  years.  At  this  time  arose  that  family  alliance,  which 
afterward  consolidated  such  an  immense  empire  under  his 
grandson  and  successor,  Charles  V. 


*  Cura  de  los  Palacios,  cap.  131. 


356 


LIFE  OE  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


While  a  large  army  was  maintained  in  Italy,  under  Gonsalvo 
of  Cordova,  to  assist  the  King  of  Naples  in  recovering  his 
throne,  of  wliich  he  had  been  suddenly  dispossessed  by  Charles 
VIII.  of  France,  other  armies  were  required  on  the  frontier  of 
Spain,  wliich  were  menaced  with  a  French  invasion.  Squad¬ 
rons  also  had  to  be  employed  for  the  safeguard  of  the  Medi¬ 
terranean  and  Atlantic  coasts  of  the  Peninsula,  while  a  mag¬ 
nificent  armada  of  upward  of  a  hundred  ships,  having  on  board 
twenty  thousand  persons,  many  of  them  of  the  first  nobility, 
was  dispatched  to  convoy  the  Princess  Juana  to  Flanders,  to 
be  married  to  Philip,  Archduke  of  Austria,  and  to  bring  back 
his  sister  Margarita,  the  destined  bride  of  Prince  Juan. 

These  widely-extended  «,  perations,  both  of  war  and  amity,  put 
all  the  land  and  naval  forces  into  requisition.  They  drained 
the  royal  treasury,  and  engrossed  the  thoughts  of  the  sov¬ 
ereigns,  obliging  them  also  to  journey  from  place  to  place  in 
their  dominions.  With  such  cares  of  an  immediate  and  home- 
felt  nature  pressing  upon  their  minds,  the  distant  enterprises 
of  Columbus  were  easily  neglected  or  postponed.  They  had 
hitherto  been  sources  of  expense  instead  of  profit;  and  there 
were  artful  counsellors  ever  ready  to  whisper  in  the  royal  ear 
that  they  were  likely  to  continue  so.  What,  in  the  ambitious 
eyes  of  Ferdinand,  was  the  acquisition  of  a  number  of  wild, 
uncultivated,  and  distant  islands,  to  that  of  the  brilliant  domain 
of  Naples ;  c  r  the  intercourse  with  naked  and  barbaric  princes, 
to  that  of  an  alliance  with  the  most  potent  sovereigns  of 
Christendom?  Columbus  had  the  mortification,  therefore,  to 
see  armies  levied  and  squadrons  employed  in  idle  contests 
about  a  little  point  of  territory  in  Europe,  and  a  vast  armada 
of  upward  of  a  hundred  sail  destined  to  the  ostentatious  service 
of  convoying  a  royal  bride;  while  he  vainly  solicited  a  few 
caravels  to  prosecute  his  discovery  of  a  world. 

At  length,  in  the  autumn,  six  millions  of  maravedies  were 
ordered  to  be  advanced  to  Columbus  for  the  equipment  of  his 
promised  squadron.*  Just  as  the  sum  was  about  to  be  de¬ 
livered,  a,  letter  was  received  from  Pedro  Alonzo  Nino,  who 
had  arrived  at  Cadiz  with  his  three  caravels,  on  his  return  from 
the  island  of  Hispaniola.  Instead  of  proceeding  to  court  in 
person,  or  forwarding  the  dispatches  of  the  Adelantado,  he  had 
gone  to  visit  his  family  at  Huelva,  taking  the  dispatches  with 


*  Equivalent  to  86,956  dollars  of  the  present  day. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS.  357 

him,  and  merely  writing,  in  a  vaunting  style,  that  he  had  a 
great  amount  of  gold  on  board  of  his  ships.* 

This  was  triumphant  intelligence  to  Columbus,  who  immedi¬ 
ately  concluded  that  the  new  mines  were  in  operation,  and  the 
treasures  of  Opliir  about  to  be  realized.  The  letter  of  Nino, 
however,  was  fated  to  have  a  most  injurious  effect  on  his 
concerns. 

The  king  at  that  moment  was  in  immediate  want  of  money, 
to  repair  the  fortress  of  Salza,  in  Roussillon,  which  had  been 
sacked  by  the  French ;  the  six  millions  of  maravedies  about  to 
be  advanced  to  Columbus  were  forthwith  appropriated  to  patch 
up  the  shattered  castle,  and  an  order  was  given  for  the  amount 
to  be  paid  out  of  the  gold  brought  by  Nino.  It  was  not  until 
the  end  of  December,  when  Nino  arrived  at  court,  and  delivered 
the  dispatches  of  the  Adelantado,  that  his  boast  of  gold  was 
discovered  to  be  a  mere  figure  of  speech,  and  that  his  caravels 
were,  in  fact,  freighted  with  Indian  prisoners,  from  the  sale  of 
whom  the  vaunted  gold  was  to  arise. 

It  is  difficult  to  describe  the  vexatious  effects  of  this  absurd 
hyperbole.  The  hopes  of  Columbus,  of  great  and  immediate 
profit  from  the  mines,  were  suddenly  cast  down;  the  zeal  of 
his  few  advocates  was  cooled;  an  air  of  empty  exaggeration 
was  given  to  his  enterprises;  and  his  enemies  pointed  with 
scorn  and  ridicule  to  the  wretched  cargoes  of  the  caravels,  as 
the  boasted  treasures  of  the  New  World.  The  report  brought 
by  Nino  and  his  crew  represented  the  colony  as  in  a  disastrous 
condition,  and  the  dispatches  of  the  Adelantado  pointed  out 
the  importance  of  immediate  supplies ;  but  in  proportion  as  the 
necessity  of  the  case  was  urgent,  the  measure  of  relief  was 
tardy.  All  the  unfavorable  representations  hitherto  made 
seemed  corroborated,  and  the  invidious  cry  of  “great  cost  and 
little  gain”  was  revived  by  those  politicians  of  petty  sagacity 
and  microscopic  eye,  who,  in  all  great  undertakings,  can  dis¬ 
cern  the  immediate  expense,  without  having  scope  of  vision  to 
embrace  the  future  profit. 


*  Las  Casas,  Hist.  Ind.,  lib.  i,  cap.  123,  ms. 


358 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTO  PEER  COLUMBUS. 


CHAPTER  III. 

PREPARATIONS  FOR  A  THIRD  VOYAGE — DIS  APPOINTMENTS  AND 

DELAYS. 

[1497.] 

It  was  not  until  the  following  spring  of  1497  that  the  con¬ 
cerns  of  Columbus  and  of  the  New  World  began  to  receive 
serious  attention  from  the  sovereigns.  The  fleet  had  returned 
from  Flanders  with  the  Princess  Margarita  of  Austria.  Her 
nuptials  with  Prince  Juan,  the  heir-apparent,  had  been  cele¬ 
brated  at  Burgos,  the  capital  of  Old  Castile,  with  extraordinary 
splendor.  All  the  grandees,  the  dignitaries,  and  chivalry  of 
Spain,  together  with  ambassadors  from  the  principal  potentates 
of  Christendom,  were  assembled  on  the  occasion.  Burgos  was 
for  some  time  a  scene  of  chivalrous  pageant  and  courtly  revel, 
and  the  whole  kingdom  celebrated  with  great  rejoicings  this 
powerful  alliance,  which  seemed  to  insure  to  the  Spanish  sov¬ 
ereigns  a  continuance  of  their  extraordinary  prosperity. 

In  the  midst  of  these  festivities,  Isabella,  whose  maternal 
heart  had  recently  been  engrossed  by  the  marriages  of  her 
children,  now  that  she  was  relieved  from  these  concerns  of  a 
tender  and  domestic  nature,  entered  into  the  affairs  of  the  New 
World  with  a  spirit  that  showed  she  was  determined  to  place 
them  upon  a  substantial  foundation,  as  well  as  clearly  to  define 
the  powers  and  reward  the  services  of  Columbus.  To  her  pro¬ 
tecting  zeal  all  the  provisions  in  favor  of  Columbus  must  be 
attributed ;  for  the  king  began  to  look  coldly  on  him,  and  the 
royal  counsellors,  who  had  most  influence  in  the  affairs  of  the 
Indies,  were  his  enemies. 

Various  royal  ordinances  dated  about  this  time  manifest  the 
generous  and  considerate  disposition  of  the  queen.  The  rights, 
privileges,  and  dignities  granted  to  Columbus  at  Santa  Fe, 
were  again  confirmed;  a  tract  of  land  in  Hispaniola,  fifty 
leagues  in  length  and  twenty-five  in  breadth,  was  offered  to 
him  with  the  title  of  duke  or  marquess.  This,  however, 
Columbus  had  the  forbearance  to  decline ;  he  observed  that  it 
would  only  increase  the  envy  which  was  already  so  virulent 
against  him,  and  would  cause  new  misrepresentations ;  as  he 
should  be  accused  of  paying  more  attention  to  the  settlement 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS.  359 

and  improvement  of  his  own  possessions  than  of  any  other  part 
of  the  island.* 

As  the  expenses  of  the  expeditions  had  hitherto  far  exceeded 
the  returns,  Columbus  had  incurred  debt  rather  than  reaped 
profit  from  the  share  he  had  been  permitted  to  take  in  them ; 
he  was  relieved,  therefore,  from  his  obligation  to  bear  an  eighth 
part  of  the  cost  of  the  past  enterprises,  excepting  the  sum 
which  he  had  advanced  toward  the  first  voyage ;  at  the  same 
time,  however,  he  was  not  to  claim  any  share  of  what  had 
hitherto  been  brought  from  the  island.  For  three  ensuing 
years  he  was  to  be  allowed  an  eighth  of  the  gross  proceeds  of 
every  voyage,  and  an  additional  tenth  after  the  costs  had  been 
deducted.  After  the  expiration  of  the  three  years,  the  original 
terms  of  agreement  were  to  be  resumed. 

To  gratify  his  honorable  ambition  also,  and  to  perpetuate  in 
his  family  the  distinction  gained  by  his  illustrious  deeds,  he 
was  allowed  the  right  of  establishing  a  mayorazgo,  or  per¬ 
petual  entail  of  his  estates,  so  that  they  might  always  descend 
with  his  titles  of  nobility.  This  he  shortly  after  exercised  in  a 
solemn  testament  executed  at  Seville  in  the  early  part  of  1498, 
by  which  he  devised  his  estate  to  his  own  male  descendants, 
and  on  their  failure  to  the  male  descendants  of  his  brothers, 
and  in  default  of  male  heirs  to  the  females  of  his  lineage. 

The  heir  was  always  to  bear  the  arms  of  the  admiral,  to  seal 
with  them,  to  sign  with  his  signature,  and  in  signing,  never  to 
use  any  other  title  than  simply  “The  Admiral,”  whatever 
other  titles  might  be  given  him  by  the  king,  and  used  by  him 
on  other  occasions.  Such  was  the  noble  pride  with  which  he 
valued  this  title  of  his  real  greatness. 

In  this  testament  he  made  ample  provision  for  his  brother, 
the  Adelantado,  his  son  Fernando,  and  his  brother  Don  Diego, 
the  last  of  whom,  he  intimates,  had  a  desire  to  enter  into  eccle¬ 
siastical  life.  He  ordered  that  a  tenth  part  of  the  revenues 
arising  from  the  mayorazgo  should  be  devoted  to  pious  and 
charitable  purposes,  and  in  relieving  all  poor  persons  of  his 
lineage.  He  made  provisions  for  the  giving  of  marriage-por¬ 
tions  to  the  poor  females  of  his  family.  He  ordered  that  a 
married  person  of  his  kindred,  who  had  been  born  in  his 
native  city  of  Genoa,  should  be  maintained  there  in  com¬ 
petence  and  respectability,  by  way  of  keeping  a  domicil  for 
the  family  there ;  and  he  commanded  whoever  should  inherit 


*  I-as  Casas,  Hist.  Ind.,  lib.  i.  cap.  128. 


360 


LIFE  OF  CimiSTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


the  mayorazgo,  always  to  do  everything  in  his  power  for  the 
honor,  prosperity,  and  increase  of  the  city  of  Genoa,  provided 
it  should  not  be  contrary  to  the  service  of  the  church  and  the 
interests  of  the  Spanish  crown.  Among  various  other  provi¬ 
sions  in  this  will,  he  solemnly  provides  for  his  favorite  scheme, 
the  recovery  of  the  holy  sepulchre.  He  orders  his  son  Diego, 
or  whoever  else  may  inherit  his  estate,  to  invest  from  time  to 
time  as  much  money  as  he  can  spare,  in  stock  in  the  bank  of 
St.  George  at  Genoa,  to  form  a  permanent  fund,  with  which  he 
is  to  stand  ready  at  any  time  to  follow  and  serve  the  king  in 
the  conquest  of  Jerusalem.  Or  should  the  king  not  undertake 
such  enterprise,  then,  when  the  funds  have  accumulated  to  suf¬ 
ficient  amount,  to  set  on  foot  a  crusade  at  his  own  charge  and 
risk,  in  hopes  that,  seeing  his  determination,  the  sovereigns 
may  be  induced  either  to  adopt  the  undertaking  or  to  author¬ 
ize  him  to  pursue  it  in  their  name. 

Besides  this  special  undertaking  for  the  Catholic  faith,  he 
charges  his  heir  in  case  there  should  arise  any  schism  in  the 
church,  or  any  violence  menacing  its  prosperity,  to  throw  him¬ 
self  at  the  feet  of  the  pope,  and  devote  his  person  and  property 
to  defend  the  church  from  all  insult  and  spoliation.  Next  to 
the  service  of  God,  he  enjoins  loyalty  to  the  throne ;  command¬ 
ing  him  at  all  times  to  serve  the  sovereigns  and  their  heirs, 
faithfully  and  zealously,  even  to  the  loss  of  life  and  estate.  To 
insure  the  constant  remembrance  of  this  testament,  he  orders 
his  heir  that,  before  he  confesses,  he  shall  give  it  to  his  father 
confessor  to  read,  who  is  to  examine  him  upon  his  faithful  ful¬ 
filment  of  its  conditions.* 

As  Columbus  had  felt  aggrieved  by  the  general  license 
granted  in  April,  1495,  to  make  discoveries  in  the  New  World, 
considering  it  as  interfering  with  his  prerogatives,  a  royal  edict 
was  issued  on  the  2d  of  June,  1497,  retracting  whatever  might 
be  prejudicial  to  his  interests,  or  to  the  previous  grants  made 
him  by  the  crown.  “It  never  was  our  intention,”  said  the 
sovereigns  in  their  edict,  “in  any  way  to  affect  the  rights  of 
the  said  Don  Christopher  Columbus,  nor  to  allow  the  conven¬ 
tions,  privileges,  and  favors  which  we  have  granted  him  to  be 
encroached  upon  or  violated;  but  on  the  contrary,  in  conse¬ 
quence  of  the  services  which  he  has  rendered  us,  we  intend  to 
confer  still  further  favors  on  him.”  Such,  there  is  every  rea- 


*?Ws  testament  is  inserted  atj^rge  in  the  Appendix, 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


361 


eon  to  believe,  was  the  sincere  intention  of  the  magnanimous 
Isabella ;  but  the  stream  of  her  royal  bounty  was  poisoned  or 
diverted  by  the  base  channels  through  which  it  flowed. 

The  favor  shown  to  Columbus  was  extended  likewise  to  his 
family.  The  titles  and  prerogatives  of  Adelantado,  with  which 
he  had  invested  his  brother  Don  Bartholomew,  had  at  first 
awakened  the  displeasure  of  the  king,  who  jealously  reserved 
all  high  dignities  of  the  kind  to  be  granted  exclusively  by  the 
crown.  By  a  royal  letter  the  office  was  now  conferred  upon 
Don  Bartholomew,  as  if  through  spontaneous  favor  of  the 
sovereigns,  no  allusion  being  made  to  his  having  previously 
enjoyed  it. 

While  all  these  measures  were  taken  for  the  immediate 
gratification  of  Columbus,  others  were  adopted  for  the  inter¬ 
ests  of  the  colony.  Permission  was  granted  him  to  take  out 
three  hundred  and  thirty  persons  in  royal  pay,  of  whom  forty 
were  to  be  escuderos,  or  servants,  one  hundred  foot-soldiers, 
thirty  sailors,  thirty  ship-boys,  twenty  miners,  fifty  husband¬ 
men,  ten  gardeners,  twenty  mechanics  of  various  kinds,  and 
thirty  females.  He  was  subsequently  permitted  to  increase 
the  number,  if  he  thought  proper,  to  five  hundred;  but  the  ad¬ 
ditional  individuals  were  to  be  paid  out  of  the  produce  and 
merchandise  of  the  colony.  He  was  likewise  authorized  to 
grant  lands  to  all  such  as  were  disposed  to  cultivate  vineyards, 
orchards,  sugar  plantations,  or  to  form  any  other  rural  estab¬ 
lishments,  on  condition  that  they  should  reside  as  householders 
on  the  island  for  four  years  after  such  grant,  and  that  all  the 
brazil-wood  and  precious  metals  found  on  their  lands  should 
be  reserved  to  the  crown. 

Nor  were  the  interests  of  the  unhappy  natives  forgotten  by 
the  compassionate  heart  of  Isabella.  Notwithstanding  the 
sophisms  by  which  their  subjection  and  servitude  were  made 
matters  of  civil  and  divine  right,  and  sanctioned  by  political 
prelates  of  the  day,  Isabella  always  consented  with  the  great¬ 
est  reluctance  to  the  slavery  even  of  those  who  were  taken  in 
open  warfare ;  while  her  utmost  solicitude  was  exerted  to  pro¬ 
tect  the  unoffending  part  of  this  helpless  and  devoted  race. 
She  ordered  that  the  greatest  care  should  be  taken  of  their 
religious  instruction,  and  the  greatest  leniency  shown  in  col¬ 
lecting  the  tributes  imposed  upon  them,  with  all  possible  in¬ 
dulgence  to  defalcators.  In  fact,  the  injunctions  given  with 
respect  to  the  treatment  both  of  Indians  and  Spaniards,  are 
the  only  indications  in  the  royal  edicts  of  any  impression 


362 


LIFE  OF  CEEISTOPnEIi  COLUMBUS. 


having  been  made  by  the  complaints  against  Columbus  of 
severity  in  his  government.  It  was  generally  recommended 
by  the  sovereigns  that,  whenever  the  public  safety  did  not 
require  stern  measures,  there  should  be  manifested  a  disposi¬ 
tion  to  lenity  and  easy  rule. 

j  When  every  intention  was  thus  shown  on  the  part  of  the 
crown  to  dispatch  the  expedition  to  the  colony,  unexpected 
difficulties  arose  on  the  part  of  the  public.  The  charm  was  dis¬ 
pelled  which  in  the  preceding  voyage  had  made  every  adven¬ 
turer  crowd  into  the  service  of  Columbus.  An  odium  had  been 
industriously  thrown  upon  his  enterprises ;  and  his  new-found 
world,  instead  of  a  region  of  wealth  and  delight,  was  considered 
a  land  of  poverty  and  disaster.  There  was  a  difficulty  in  pro¬ 
curing  either  ships  or  men  for  the  voyage.  To  remedy  the  first 
of  these  deficiencies,  one  of  those  arbitrary  orders  was  issued, 
so  opposite  to  our  present  ideas  of  commercial  policy,  empower¬ 
ing  the  officers  of  the  croAvn  to  press  into  the  service  whatever 
ships  they  might  judge  suitable  for  the  purposed  expedition, 
together  with  their  masters  and  pilots ;  and  to  fix  such  price 
for  their  remuneration  as  the  officers  should  deem  just  and  rea¬ 
sonable.  To  supply  the  want  of  voluntary  recruits,  a  measure 
was  adopted  at  the  suggestion  of  Columbus,*  which  shows  the 
desperate  alternatives  to  which  he  was  reduced  by  the  great  re¬ 
action  of  public  sentiment.  This  was  to  commute  the  sentences 
of  criminals  condemned  to  banishment,  to  the  galleys,  or  to  the 
mines,  into  transportation  to  the  new  settlements,  where  they 
were  to  labor  in  the  public  service  without  pay.  Those  whose 
sentence  was  banishment  for  life,  to  be  transported  for  ten 
years;  those  banished  for  a  specific  term,  to  be  transported 
for  half  that  time.  A  general  pardon  was  published  for  all 
malefactors  at  large,  who  within  a  certain  time  should  surren¬ 
der  themseves  to  the  admiral  and  embark  for  the  colonies; 
those  who  had  committed  offences  meriting  death,  to  serve  for 
two  years,  those  whose  misdeeds  were  of  a  lighter  nature,  to 
serve  for  on^  year.f  Those  only  were  excepted  from  this  in¬ 
dulgence  who  had  committed  heresy,  treason,  coining,  murder, 
and  certain  other  specific  crimes.  This  pernicious  measure,  cal¬ 
culated  to  poison  the  population  of  an  infant  community  at  its 
very  source,  was  a  fruitful  cause  of  trouble  to  Columbus,  and 
of  misery  and  detriment  to  the  colony.  It  has  been  frequently 


*  Las  Oasas,  Hist.  Ind.,  lib.  i.  cap.  112,  MS. 
t  Munoz,  lib.  vi.  §  19. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


363 


adopted  by  various  nations,  whose  superior  experience  should 
have  taught  them  better,  and  has  proved  the  bane  of  many  a 
rising  settlement.  It  is  assuredly  as  unnatural  for  a  metropo¬ 
lis  to  cast  forth  its  crimes  and  vices  upon  its  colonies,  as  it  would 
be  for  a  parent  wilfully  to  engraft  disease  upon  his  children. 
In  both  instances  the  obligation  of  nature  is  vitiated ;  nor  should 
it  be  matter  of  surprise,  if  the  seeds  of  evil  thus  sown  should 
bring  forth  bitter  retribution. 

Notwithstanding  all  these  violent  expedients,  there  was  still 
a  ruinous  delay  in  fitting  out  the  expedition.  This  is  partly  ac¬ 
counted  for  by  changes  which  took  place  in  the  persons  ap¬ 
pointed  to  superintend  the  affairs  of  the  Indies.  These  con¬ 
cerns  had  for  a  time  been  consigned  to  Antonio  de  Torres,  in 
whose  name,  conjointly  with  that  of  Columbus,  many  of  the 
official  documents  had  been  made  out.  In  consequence  of  high 
and  unreasonable  demands  on  the  part  of  Torres,  he  was  re¬ 
moved  from  office,  and  Juan  Rodriguez  de  Fonseca,  Bishop  of 
Badajos,  reinstated.  The  papers  had,  therefore,  to  be  made  out 
anew,  and  fresh  contracts  formed.  While  these  concerns  were 
tardily  attended  to,  the  queen  was  suddenly  overwhelmed  with 
affliction  by  the  death  of  her  only  son,  Prince  Juan,  whose 
nuptials  had  been  celebrated  with  such  splendor  in  the  spring. 
It  was  the  first  of  a  series  of  domestic  calamities  which  assailed 
her  affectionate  heart,  and  overwhelmed  her  with  affliction  for 
the  remainder  of  her  days.  In  the  midst  of  her  distress,  how¬ 
ever,  she  still  thought  of  Columbus.  In  consequence  of  his  ur¬ 
gent  representations  of  the  misery  to  which  the  colony  must  be 
reduced,  two  ships  were  dispatched  in  the  beginning  of  1498, 
under  the  command  of  Pedro  Fernandez  Coronel,  freighted 
with  supplies.  The  necessary  funds  were  advanced  by  the 
queen  herself,  out  of  the  moneys  intended  to  form  the  endow¬ 
ment  of  her  daughter  Isabella,  then  betrothed  to  Emanuel,  King 
of  Portugal.  An  instance  of  her  kind  feeling  toward  Columbus 
was  also  evinced  in  the  time  of  her  affliction ;  his  two  sons, 
Diego  and  Fernando,  had  been  pages  to  the  deceased  prince ; 
the  queen  now  took  them,  in  the  same  capacity,  into  her  own 
service. 

With  all  this  zealous  disposition  on  the  part  of  the  queen, 
Columbus  still  met  with  the  most  injurious  and  discouraging 
delays  in  preparing  the  six  remaining  vessels  for  his  voyage. 
His  cold-blooded  enemy  Fonseca,  having  the  superintendence 
of  Indian  affairs,  was  enabled  to  impede  and  retard  all  his 
plans.  The  various  petty  officers  and  agents  employed  in  the 


364 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


concerns  of  the  armament  were  many  of  them  minions  of  the 
bishop,  and  knew  that  they  were  gratifying  Mm  in  annoying 
Columbus.  They  looked  upon  the  latter  as  a  man  declining  in 
popularity,  who  might  be  offended  with  impunity ;  they  scrupled 
not,  therefore,  to  throw  all  kinds  of  difficulties  in  his  path,  and 
to  treat  him  occasionally  with  that  arrogance  which  petty  and 
ignoble  men  in  place  are  prone  to  exercise. 

It  seems  almost  incredible  at  the  present  day  that  such  im¬ 
portant  and  glorious  enterprises  should  have  been  subject  to 
such  despicable  molestations.  Columbus  bore  them  all  with 
silent  indignation.  He  was  a  stranger  in  the  land  he  was  bene¬ 
fiting  ;  he  felt  that  the  popular  tide  was  setting  against  him, 
and  that  it  was  necessary  to  tolerate  many  present  grievances 
for  the  sake  of  effecting  his  great  purposes.  So  wearied  and 
disheartened,  however,  did  he  become  by  the  impediments  art¬ 
fully  thrown  in  his  way,  and  so  disgusted  by  the  prejudices  of 
the  fickle  public,  that  he  at  one  time  thought  of  abandoning 
his  discoveries  altogether.  He  was  chiefly  induced  to  persevere 
by  his  grateful  attachment  to  the  queen,  and  his  desire  to 
achieve  something  that  might  cheer  and  animate  her  under  her 
afflictions.* 

At  length,  after  all  kinds  of  irritating  delays,  the  six  vessels 
were  fitted  for  sea,  though  it  was  impossible  to  conquer  the 
popular  repugnance  to  the  service  sufficiently  to  enlist  the  al¬ 
lotted  number  of  men.  In  addition  to  the  persons  in  employ 
already  enumerated,  a  physician,  surgeon,  and  apothecary 
were  sent  out  for  the  relief  of  the  colony,  and  several  priests  to 
replace  Friar  Boyle  and  certain  of  his  discontented  brethren ; 
while  a  number  of  musicians  were  embarked  by  the  admiral  to 
cheer  and  enliven  the  colonists. 

The  insolence  which  Columbus  had  suffered  from  the  minions 
of  Fonseca  throughout  this  long  protracted  time  of  preparation 
harassed  him  to  the  last  moment  of  his  sojourn  in  Spain,  and 
followed  him  to  the  very  water’s  edge.  Among  the  worthless 
hirelings  who  had  annoyed  him,  the  most  noisy  and  presuming 
was  one  Ximcno  Breviesca,  treasurer  or  accountant  of  Fonseca. 
He  was  not  an  old  Christian,  observes  the  venerable  Las  Casas ; 
by  which  it  is  to  be  understood  that  he  was  either  a  Jew  or  a 
Moor  converted  to  the  Catholic  faith.  He  had  an  impudent 
front  and  an  unbridled  tongue,  and,  echoing  the  sentiments  of 
his  patron  the  bishop,  had  been  loud  j.  his  abuse  of  the  ad- 


*  letter  of  Columbus  to  the  nurse  of  Prince  Juau, 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


365 


miral  and  his  enterprises.  The  very  day  when  the  squadron 
was  on  the  point  of  weighing  anchor,  Columbus  was  assailed 
by  the  insolence  of  this  Ximeno,  either  on  the  shore  when  about 
to  embark,  or  on  board  of  his  ship  where  he  had  just  entered. 
In  the  hurry  of  the  moment  he  forgot  his  usual  self-command ; 
nis  indignation,  hitherto  repressed,  suddenly  burst  forth ;  he 
struck  the  despicable  minion  to  the  ground,  and  kicked  him 
repeatedly,  venting  in  this  unguarded  paroxysm  the  accumu¬ 
lated  griefs  and  vexations  which  had  long  rankled  in  his 
mind.* 

Nothing  could  demonstrate  more  strongly  what  Columbus 
had  previously  suffered,  from  the  machinations  of  unworthy 
men,  than  this  transport  of  passion,  so  unusual  in  his  well- 
governed  temper.  He  deeply  regretted  it,  and  in  a  letter  writ¬ 
ten  some  time  afterward  to  the  sovereigns,  he  endeavored  to 
obviate  the  injury  it  might  do  him  in  their  opinion,  through 
the  exaggeration  and  false  coloring  of  his  enemies.  His  appre¬ 
hensions  were  not  ill-founded,  for  Las  Casas  attributes  the  hu¬ 
miliating  measures  shortly  after  adopted  by  the  sovereigns 
toward  Columbus,  to  the  unfavorable  impression  produced  by 
this  affair.  It  had  happened  near  at  home,  as  it  were,  under 
the  very  eye  of  the  sovereigns ;  it  spoke,  therefore,  more  quickly 
to  their  feelings  than  more  important  allegations  from  a  dis¬ 
tance.  The  personal  castigation  of  a  public  officer  was  repre¬ 
sented  as  a  flagrant  instance  of  the  vindictive  temper  of  Colum¬ 
bus,  and  a  corroboration  of  the  charges  of  cruelty  and  oppres¬ 
sion  sent  from  the  colony.  As  Ximeno  was  a  creature  of  the 
invidious  Fonseca,  the  affair  was  represented  to  the  sovereigns 
in  the  most  odious  point  of  view.  Thus  the  generous  inten¬ 
tions  of  princes,  and  the  exalted  services  of  their  subjects,  are 
apt  to  be  defeated  by  the  intervention  of  cold  and  crafty  men 
in  place.  By  his  implacable  hostility  to  Columbus,  and  the 
secret  obstructions  which  he  threw  in  the  way  of  the  most 
illustrious  of  human  enterprises,  Fonseca  has  insured  perpetu¬ 
ity  to  his  name,  coupled  with  the  contempt  of  every  generous 
mind. 


*  Las  Casas,  Hist.  IncL  lib.  i.  cap.  136,  mo. 


1 


BOOK  X. 


CHAPTER  I. 

DEPARTURE  OF  COLUMBUS  FROM  SPAIN  ON  HIS  THIRD  VOYAGE— 

DISCOVERY  OF  TRINIDAD. 

[1498.] 

On  the  80th  of  May,  1498,  Columbus  set  sail  from  the  port  of 
San  Lucar  de  Barrameda,  with  his  squadron  of  six  vessels,  on 
his  third  voyage  of  discovery.  The  route  he  proposed  to  take 
was  different  from  that  pursued  in  his  former  voyages.  He 
intended  to  depart  from  the  Cape  de  Verde  Islands,  sailing  to 
the  south-west,  until  he  should  come  under  the  equinoctial  line, 
then  to  steer  directly  westward,  with  the  favor  of  the  trade- 
winds,  until  he  should  arrive  at  land,  or  find  himself  m  the 
longitude  of  Hispaniola.  Various  considerations  induced  him 
to  adopt  this  course.  In  his  preceding  voyage,  when  he  coasted 
the  southern  side  of  Cuba,  under  the  belief  that  it  was  the  con¬ 
tinent  of  Asia,  he  had  observed  that  it  swept  off  toward  the 
south.  From  this  circumstance,  and  from  information  gath¬ 
ered  among  the  natives  of  the  Caribbee  Islands,  he  was  induced 
to  believe  that  a  great  tract  of  the  main-land  lay  to  the  south 
of  the  countries  he  had  already  discovered.  King  John  II.  of 
Portugal  appears  to  have  entertained  a  similar  idea ;  as  Herrera 
records  an  opinion  expressed  by  that  monarch,  that  there  was 
a  continent  in  the  southern  ocean.*  If  this  were  the  case,  it 
was  supposed  by  Columbus  that,  in  proportion  as  he  approached 
the  equator,  and  extended  his  discoveries  to  climates  more  and 
more  under  the  torrid  influence  of  the  sun,  he  should  find  the 
productions  of  nature  sublimated  by  its  rays  to  more  perfect 
and  precious  qualities.  He  was  strengthened  in  this  belief  by 


+  Herrera,  Hist.  lud.j  decad.  i.  lib.  iii.  cap.  9, 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


367 


a  letter  written  to  him  at  the  command  of  the  queen,  by  one 
Jayne  Ferrer,  an  eminent  and  learned  lapidary,  who,  in  the 
course  of  his  trading  for  precious  stones  and  metals,  had  been 
in  the  Levant  and  in  various  parts  of  the  East ;  had  conversed 
with  the  merchants  of  the  remote  parts  of  Asia  and  Africa,  and 
the  natives  of  India,  Arabia,  and  Ethiopia,  and  was  considered 
deeply  versed  in  geography  generally,  but  especially  in  the 
natural  histories  of  those  countries  whence  the  valuable  mer¬ 
chandise  in  which  he  dealt  was  procured.  In  this  letter  Ferrer 
assured  Columbus  that,  according  to  his  experience,  the  rarest 
objects  of  commerce,  such  as  gold,  precious  stones,  drugs,  and 
spices,  were  chiefly  to  be  found  in  the  regions  about  the  equi¬ 
noctial  line,  where  the  inhabitants  were  black,  or  darkly  col¬ 
ored  ;  and  that  until  the  admiral  should  arrive  among  people 
of  such  complexions  he  did  not  think  he  would  find  those  ar¬ 
ticles  in  great  abundance.* 

Columbus  expected  to  find  such  people  more  to  the  south. 
He  recollected  that  the  natives  of  Hispaniola  had  spoken  of 
black  men  who  had  once  come  to  their  island  from  the  south  and 
south-east,  the  heads  of  whose  javelins  were  of  a  sort  of  metal 
which  they  called  Guanin.  They  had  given  the  admiral  speci¬ 
mens  of  this  metal,  which,  on  being  assayed  in  Spain,  proved 
to  be  a  mixture  of  eighteen  parts  gold,  six  silver,  and  eight 
copper,  a  proof  of  valuable  mines  in  the  country  whence  they 
came.  Charlevoix  conjectures  that  these  black  people  may 
have  come  from  the  Canaries,  or  the  western  coast  of  Africa, 
and  been  driven  by  tempest  to  the  shores  of  Hispaniola,  f  It 
is  probable,  however,  that  Columbus  had  been  misinformed  as 
to  their  color,  or  had  misunderstood  his  informants.  It  is  dif¬ 
ficult  to  believe  that  the  natives  of  Africa,  or  the  Canaries, 
could  have  performed  a  voyage  of  such  magnitude,  in  the  frail 
and  scantily  provided  barks  they  were  accustomed  to  use. 

It  was  to  ascertain  the  truth  of  all  these  suppositions,  and  if 
correct,  to  arrive  at  the  favored  and  opulent  countries  about 
the  equator,  inhabited  by  people  of  similar  complexions  with 
those  of  the  Africans  under  the  line,  that  Columbus  in  his 
present  voyage  to  the  New  World  took  a  course  much  farther 
to  the  south  than  that  which  he  had  hitherto  pursued. 

Having  heard  that  a  French  squadron  was  cruising  off  Cape 
St.  Vincent,  he  stood  to  the  south-west  after  leaving  St.  Lucar, 


♦Navarrete,  Colec.,  tom.  ii.  doc.  68. 
t  Charlevoix,  Hist.  St.  Domingo,  lib.  iii.  p.  16S. 


368 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


touching  at  the  islands  of  Porto  Santo  and  Madeira,  where  he 
remained  a  few  days  taking  in  wood  and  water  and  other  sup¬ 
plies,  and  then  continued  his  course  to  the  Canary  Islands.  On 
the  19th  of  June  he  arrived  at  Gomara,  where  there  lay  at  anchor 
a  French  cruiser  with  two  Spanish  prizes.  On  seeing  the  squad¬ 
ron  of  Columbus  standing  into  the  harbor,  the  captain  of  the  pri- 
jvateer  put  to  sea  in  all  haste,  followed  by  his  prizes ;  one  of  which, 
lin  the  hurry  of  the  moment,  left  part  of  her  crew  on  shore,  mak¬ 
ing  sail  with  only  four  of  her  armament  and  six  Spanish  pris¬ 
oners.  The  admiral  at  first  mistook  them  for  merchant  ships 
alarmed  by  his  warlike  appearance;  when  informed  of  the 
truth,  however,  he  sent  three  of  his  vessels  in  pursuit,  but  they 
were  too  distant  to  be  overtaken.  The  six  Spaniards,  however, 
on  board  of  one  of  the  prizes,  seeing  assistance  at  hand,  rose  on 
their  captors,  and  the  admiral’s  vessel  coming  up,  the  prize 
was  retaken,  and  brought  back  in  triumph  to  the  port.  The 
admiral  relinquished  the  ship  to  the  captain,  and  gave  up  the 
prisoners  to  the  governor  of  the  island,  to  be  exchanged  for  six 
Spaniards  carried  off  by  the  cruiser.* 

Leaving  Gomara  on  the  21st  of  June,  Columbus  divided  his 
squadron  off  the  island  of  Ferro:  three  of  the  ships  he  dis¬ 
patched  direct  for  Hispaniola,  to  carry  supplies  to  the  colony. 
One  of  these  ships  was  commanded  by  Alonzo  Sanchez  de  Ca- 
ravajal,  a  native  of  Baeza,  a  man  of  much  worth  and  integrity; 
the  second  by  Pedro  de  Arana  of  Cordova,  brother  of  Bona 
Beatrix  Henriquez,  the  mother  of  the  admiral’s  second  son, 
Fernando.  He  was  cousin  also  of  the  unfortunate  officer  who 
commanded  the  fortress  of  La  Navidad  at  the  time  of  the  mas¬ 
sacre.  The  third  was  commanded  by  Juan  Antonio  Columbus 
(or  Colombo),  a  Genoese,  related  to  the  admiral,  a  man  of 
much  judgment  and  capacity.  These  captains  were  alternately 
to  have  the  command,  and  bear  the  signal  fight  a  week  at  a 
time.  The  admiral  carefully  pointed  out  their  course.  When 
they  came  in  sight  of  Hispaniola  they  were  to  steer  for  the 
south  side,  for  the  new  port  and  town,  which  he  supposed  to  be 
by  this  time  established  in  the  mouth  of  the  Ozema,  according 
to  royal  orders  sent  out  by  Coronel.  With  the  three  remaining 
vessels  the  admiral  prosecuted  his  voyage  toward  the  Cape  de 
Verde  Islands.  The  ship  in  which  he  sailed  was  decked,  the 
other  two  were  merchant  caravels,  f  As  he  advanced  within 
the  tropics  the  change  of  climate  and  the  close  and  sultry 


*  Hist,  del  Almirante  cap.  (55. 


t  P.  Martyr,  decad.  i.  lib.  yi. 


1IFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMRUS. 


369 


weather  brought  on  a  severe  attack  of  the  gout,  followed  by  a 
violent  fever.  Notwithstanding  his  painful  illness,  he  enjoyed 
the  full  possession  of  his  faculties,  and  continued  to  keep  his 
reckoning  and  make  his  observations  with  his  usual  vigilance 
and  minuteness. 

On  the  27th  of  June  he  arrived  among  the  Cape  de  Verde 
Islands,  which,  instead  of  the  freshness  and  verdure  which 
tlieir  name  would  betoken,  presented  an  aspect  of  the  most 
cheerless  sterility.  He  remained  among  these  islands  but  a 
very  few  days,  being  disappointed  in  his  expectation  of  obtain¬ 
ing  goats’  flesh  for  ships’  provisions,  and  cattle  for  stock  for  the 
island  of  Hispaniola.  To  procure  them  would  require  some  de¬ 
lay  ;  in  the  mean  time  the  health  of  himself  and  of  his  people 
suffered  under  the  influence  of  the  weather.  The  atmosphere 
was  loaded  with  clouds  and  vapors ;  neither  sun  nor  star  was  to 
he  seen;  a  sultry,  depressing  temperature  prevailed;  and  the 
livid  looks  of  the  inhabitants  bore  witness  to  the  insalubrity  of 
the  climate.* 

Leaving  the  island  of  Buena  Vista  on  the  5th  of  July,  Colum¬ 
bus  stood  to  the  south-west,  intending  to  continue  on  until  he 
found  himself  under  the  equinoctial  line.  The  currents,  how¬ 
ever,  which  ran  to  the  north  and  north-west  among  these 
islands  impeded  his  progress,  and  kept  him  for  two  days  in 
sight  of  the  Island  del  Fuego.  The  volcanic  summit  of  this 
island,  which,  seen  at  a  distance,  resembled  a  church  with  a 
lofty  steeple,  and  which  was  said  at  times  to  emit  smoke  and 
flames,  was  the  last  point  discerned  of  the  Old  World. 

Continuing  to  the  south-west  about  one  hundred  and  twenty 
leagues,  he  found  himself,  on  the  13th  of  July,  according  to  his 
observations,  in  the  fifth  degree  of  north  latitude.  He  had  en¬ 
tered  that  region  which  extends  for  eight  or  ten  degrees  on 
each  side  of  the  line,  and  is  known  among  seamen  by  the  name 
of  the  calm  latitudes.  The  trade-winds  from  the  south-east  and 
north-east,  meeting  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  equator,  neutra¬ 
lize  each  other,  and  a  steady  calmness  of  the  elements  is  pro¬ 
duced.  The  whole  sea  is  like  a  mirror,  and  vessels  remain  al¬ 
most  motionless,  with  flapping  sails ;  the  crews  panting  under 
the  heat  of  a  vertical  sun,  unmitigated  by  any  refreshing 
breeze.  Weeks  are  sometimes  employed  in  crossing  this  torpid 
tract  of  the  ocean. 

The  weather  for  some  time  past  had  been  cloudy  and  op- 


*  Hist,  del  Almirante.  cud.  Gu. 


370 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  CO  IE  HR  US. 


pressive ;  but  on  the  13th  there  was  a  bright  and  burning  sun. 
The  wind  suddenly  fell,  and  a  dead  sultry  calm  commenced, 
which  lasted  for  eight  days.  The  air  was  like  a  furnace ;  the 
tar  melted,  the  seams  of  the  ship  yawned ;  the  salt  meat  be¬ 
came  putrid ;  the  wheat  was  parched  as  if  with  fire ;  the  hoops 
shrank  from  the  wine  and  water  casks,  some  of  which  leaked, 
and  others  burst ;  while  the  heat  in  the  holds  of  the  vessels  was 
so  suffocating  that  no  one  could  remain  below  a  sufficient  time 
to  prevent  the  damage  that  was  taking  place.  The  mariners 
lost  all  strength  and  spirits,  and  sank  under  the  oppressive 
heat.  It  seemed  as  if  the  old  fable  of  the  torrid  zone  was  about 
to  be  realized;  and  that  they  were  appioaching  a  fiery  region, 
where  it  would  be  impossible  to  exist.  It  is  true  the  heavens 
were,  for  a  great  part  of  the  time,  overcast,  and  there  were 
drizzling^ showers;  but  the  atmosphere  was  close  and  stifling, 
and  there  was  that  combination  of  heat  and  moisture  which  re¬ 
laxes  all  the  energies  of  the  human  frame. 

During  this  time  the  admiral  suffered  extremely  from  the 
gout,  but,  as  usual,  the  activity  of  his  mind,  heightened  by  his 
anxiety,  allowed  him  no  indulgence  nor  repose.  He  was  in  an 
unknown  part  of  the  ocean,  where  everything  depended  upon 
his  vigilance  and  sagacity ;  and  was  continually  watching  the 
phenomena  of  the  elements,  and  looking  out  for  signs  of  land. 
Finding  the  heat  so  intolerable,  he  altered  his  course,  and 
steered  to  the  south  west,  hoping  to  find  a  milder  temperature 
further  on,  even  under  the  same  parallel.  He  had  observed,  in 
his  previous  voyages,  that  after  sailing  westward  a  hundred 
leagues  from  the  Azores,  a  wonderful  change  took  place  in  the 
sea  and  sky,  both  becoming  serene  and  bland,  and  the  air 
temperate  and  refreshing.  He  imagined  that  a  peculiar  mild¬ 
ness  and  suavity  prevailed  over  a  great  tract  of  ocean  extend¬ 
ing  from  north  to  south,  into  which  the  navigator,  sailing  from 
east  to  west,  would  suddenly  enter,  as  if  crossing  a  fine.  The 
event  seemed  to  justify  his  theory,  for  after  making  their  way 
slowly  for  some  time  to  the  westward,  through  an  ordeal  of 
heats  and  calms,  with  a  murky,  stifling  atmosphere,  the  ships 
all  at  once  emerged  into  a  genial  region,  a  pleasant,  cooling 
breeze  played  over  the  surface  of  the  sea,  and  gently  filled  their 
sails,  the  close  and  drizzling  clouds  broke  away,  the  sky  be¬ 
came  serene  and  clear,  and  the  sun  shone  forth  with  all  ita 
splendor,  but  no  longer  with  a  burning  heat. 

Columbus  had  intended  on  reaching  this  temperate  tract,  to 
have  stood  once  more  to  the  south  and  then  westward ;  but  the 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLtMBUS. 


371 

late  parching  weather  had  opened  the  seams  of  his  ships,  and 
caused  them  to  leak  excessively,  so  that  it  was  necessary  to 
seek  a  harbor  as  soon  as  possible,  where  they  might  be  refitted. 
Much  of  the  provisions  also  was  spoiled,  and  the  water  nearly 
exhausted.  He  kept  on  therefore  directly  to  the  west,  trusting, 
from  the  flights  of  birds  and  other  favorable  indications,  he 
should  soon  arrive  at  land.  Hay  after  day  passed  away  with¬ 
out  his  expectations  being  realized.  The  distresses  of  his  men 
became  continually  more  urgent ;  wherefore,  supposing  himself 
in  the  longitude  of  the  Caribbee  Islands,  he  bore  away  toward 
the  northward  in  search  of  them.* 

On  the  31st  of  July  there  was  not  above  one  cask  of  water 
remaining  in  each  ship,  when,  about  midday,  a  mariner  at  the 
masthead  beheld  the  summits  of  three  mountains  rising  above 
the  horizon,  and  gave  the  joyful  cry  of  land.  As  the  ships 
drew  nearer  it  was  seen  that  these  mountains  were  united  at 
the  base.  Columbus  had  determined  to  give  the  first  land  he 
should  behold  the  name  of  the  Trinity.  The  appearance  of 
these  three  mountains  united  into  one  struck  him  as  a  singular 
coincidence;  and,  with  a  solemn  feeling  of  devotion,  he  gave 
the  island  the  name  of  La  Trinidad,  which  it  bears  at  the  pres¬ 
ent  day.f 


CHAPTER  II. 

VOYAGE  THROUGH  THE  GULF  OF  PARIA. 

[1498.] 

Shaping  his  course  for  the  island,  Columbus  approached  its 
eastern  extremity,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  Punta  do  la 
Galera,  from  a  rock  in  the  sea,  which  resembled  a  galley  under 
sail.  He  was  obliged  to  coast  for  five  leagues  along  the  south¬ 
ern  shore  before  he  could  find  safe  anchorage.  On  the  following 
day  (August  1),  he  continued  coasting  westward,  in  search  ot 
water  and  a  convenient  barber  where  the  vessels  might  be 
careened.  He  was  surprised  at  the  verdure  and  fertility  of  the 
country,  having  expected  to  find  it  more  parched  and  sterilo 
as  he  approached  the  equator;  whereas  he  beheld  groves  of 


*  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  67.^ 


tlbid.,  ubi  sup 


m 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


palm-trees  and  luxuriant  forests,  sweeping  down  to  the  sea¬ 
side,  with  fountains  and  running  streams.  The  shores  were 
low  and  uninhabited,  but  the  country  rose  in  the  interior,  waa 
cultivated  in  many  places,  and  enlivened  by  hamlets  and  scat¬ 
tered  habitations.  In  a  word,  the  softness  and  purity  of  the 
climate,  and  the  verdure,  freshness,  and  sweetness  of  the  coun¬ 
try,  appeared  to  him  to  equal  the  delights  of  early  spring  in  the 
beautiful  province  of  Valencia.* 

Anchoring  at  a  point  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  Punta  de 
la  Playa,  he  sent  the  boats  on  shore  for  water.  They  found  an 
abundant  and  limpid  brook,  at  which  they  filled  their  casks, 
but  there  was  no  safe  harbor  for  the  vessels,  nor  could  they 
meet  with  any  of  the  islanders,  though  they  found  prints  of 
footsteps,  and  various  fishing  implements,  left  behind  in  the 
hurry  of  the  flight.  There  were  tracks  also  of  animals,  which 
they  supposed  to  be  goats,  but  which  must  have  been  deer,  with 
which,  as  it  was  afterward  ascertained,  the  island  abounded. 

While  coasting  the  island  Columbus  beheld  land  to  the  south, 
stretching  to  the  distance  of  more  than  twenty  leagues.  It 
was  that  low  tract  of  coast  intersected  by  the  numerous 
branches  of  the  Oronoco,  but  the  admiral,  supposing  it  to  be  an 
island,  gave  it  the  name  of  La  Isla  Santa ;  little  imagining  that 
he  now  for  the  first  time  beheld  that  continent,  that  Terra 
Pirma,  which  had  been  the  object  of  his  earnest  search. 

On  the  2d  of  August  he  continued  on  to  the  south-west  point 
of  Trinidad,  which  he  called  Point  Arenal.  It  stretched  toward 
a  corresponding  point  of  Terra  Firma,  making  a  narrow  pass, 
with  a  high  rock  in  the  centre,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of 
El  Gallo.  Near  this  pass  the  ships  cast  anchor.  As  they  were 
approaching  this  place,  a  large  canoe  with  five  and  twenty  In¬ 
dians  put  off  from  the  shore,  but  paused  on  coming  within 
bow-shot,  and  hailed  the  ships  in  a  language  which  no  one  on 
board  understood.  Columbus  tried  to  allure  the  savages  on 
board,  by  friendly  signs,  by  the  display  of  looking-glasses, 
basins  of  polished  metal,  and  various  glittering  trinkets,  but  all 
in  vain.  They  remained  gazing  in  mute  wonder  for  above  two 
hours,  with  their  paddles  in  their  hands,  ready  to  take  to  flight 
on  the  least  attempt  to  approach  them.  They  were  fill  young 
men,  well  formed,  and  naked,  excepting  bands  and  fillets  of 
cottons  about  their  heads,  and  colored  cloths  of  the  same  about 
their  loins.  They  were  armed  with  bows  and  arrows,  the  latter 


♦Letter  of  Columbus  to  the  Sovereigns  from  Hispaniola,  Navarrete,  Colec.,  tom  V 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


373 


feathered  and  tipped  with  bone,  and  they  had  bucklers,  an 
article  of  armor  seen  for  the  first  time  among  the  inhabitants 
of  the  New  World. 

Finding  all  other  means  to  attract  them  ineffectual,  Colum¬ 
bus  now  tried  the  power  of  music.  He  knew  the  fondness  of 
the  Indians  for  dances  performed  to  the  sound  of  their  rudo 
drums  and  the  chant  of  their  traditional  ballads.  He  ordered 
something  similar  to  be  executed  on  the  deck  of  his  ship,  where, 
while  one  man  sang  to  the  beat  of  the  tabor,  and  the  sound  of 
other  musical  instruments,  the  ship-boys  danced,  after  the 
popular  Spanish  fashion.  No  sooner,  however,  did  this  sym¬ 
phony  strike  up,  than  the  Indians,  mistaking  it  for  a  signal  of 
hostilities,  put  their  bucklers  on  their  arms,  seized  their  bows, 
and  let  fly  a  shower  of  arrows.  This  rude  salutation  was  im¬ 
mediately  answered  by  the  discharge  of  a  couple  of  cross-bows, 
which  put  the  auditors  to  flight,  and  concluded  this  singular 
entertainment. 

Though  thus  shy  of  the  admiral’s  vessel,  they  approached 
one  of  the  caravels  without  hesitation,  and,  running  under  the 
stern,  had  a  parley  with  the  pilot,  who  gave  a  cap  and  a  mantle 
to  the  one  who  appeared  to  be  the  chieftain.  He  received  the 
presents  with  great  delight,  inviting  the  pilot  by  signs  to  come 
to  land,  where  he  should  be  well  entertained,  and  receive  great 
presents  in  return.  On  his  appearing  to  consent,  they  went  to 
shore  to  wait  for  him.  The  pilot  put  off  in  the  boat  of  the 
caravel  to  ask  permission  of  the  admiral;  but  the  Indians, 
seeing  him  go  on  board  of  the  hostile  ship,  suspected  some 
treachery,  and  springing  into  their  canoe,  darted  away,  nor 
was  anything  more  seen  of  them.* 

The  complexion  and  other  physical  characteristics  of  these 
savages  caused  much  surprise  and  speculation  in  the  mind  of 
Columbus.  Supposing  himself  in  the  seventh  degree  of  latitude, 
though  actually  in  the  tenth,  he  expected  to  find  the  inhabitants 
similar  to  the  natives  of  Africa  under  the  same  parallel,  who 
were  black  and  ill-shaped,  with  crisped  hair,  or  rather  wool; 
whereas  these  were  well  formed,  had  long  hair,  and  were  even 
fairer  than  those  more  distant  from  the  equator.  The  climate, 
also,  instead  of  being  hotter  as  he  approached  the  equinoctial, 
appeared  more  temperate.  He  was  now  in  the  dog-days,  yet 


*  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  88.  P.  Martyr,  decad.  i.  lib.  vi.  Las  Casas,  Hist.  Ind.. 
lib.  i.  cap.  138.  MS.  Letter  of  Columbus  to  tbe  Castilian  Sovereigns,  Navarret®, 
Oolee-,  wm,  * 


374 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


the  nights  and  mornings  were  so  cool  that  it  was  necessary  to 
use  covering  as  in  winter.  This  is  the  case  in  many  parts  of 
the  torrid  zone,  especially  in  calm  weather,  when  there  is  no 
wind,  for  nature,  by  heavy  dews,  in  the  long  nights  of  those 
latitudes,  cools  and  refreshes  the  earth  after  the  great  heats  of 
the  day.  Columbus  was  at  first  greatly  perplexed  by  these 
contradictions  to  the  course  of  nature,  as  observed  in  the  Old 
World;  they  were  in  opposition  also  to  the  expectations  he  had 
founded  on  the  theory  of  Ferrer  the  lapidary,  but  they  gradu¬ 
ally  contributed  to  the  formation  of  a  theory  which  was  spring¬ 
ing  up  in  his  active  imagination,  and  which  will  be  presently 
shown. 

After  anchoring  at  Point  Arenal,  the  crews  were  permitted 
to  land  and  refresh  themselves.  There  were  no  runs  of  water, 
but  by  sinking  pits  in  the  sand  they  soon  obtained  sufficient  to 
fill  the  casks.  The  anchorage,  at  this  place,  however,  was  ex¬ 
tremely  insecure.  A  rapid  current  set  from  the  eastward 
through  the  strait  formed  by  the  main-land  and  the  island  of 
Trinidad,  flowing,  as  Columbus  observed,  night  and  day,  with 
as  much  fury  as  the  Guadalquiver,  when  swollen  by  floods. 
In  the  pass  between  Point  Arenal  and  its  correspondent  point, 
the  confined  current  boiled  and  raged  to  such  a  degree  that  he 
thought  it  was  crossed  by  a  reef  of  rocks  and  shoals,  preventing 
all  entrance,  with  others  extending  beyond,  over  which  the 
waters  roared  like  breakers  on  a  rocky  shore.  To  this  pass, 
from  its  angry  and  dangerous  appearance,  he  gave  the  name  of 
Boca  del  Sierpe  (the  Mouth  of  the  Serpent).  He  thus  found 
himself  placed  between  two  difficulties.  The  continual  current 
from  the  east  seemed  to  prevent  all  return,  while  the  rocks 
which  appeared  to  beset  the  pass  threatened  destruction  if  he 
should  proceed.  Being  on  board  of  his  ship,  late  at  night,  kept 
awake  by  painful  illness  and  an  anxious  and  watchful  spirit, 
he  heard  a  terrible  roaring  from  the  south,  and  beheld  the  sea 
heaped  up,  as  it  were,  into  a  great  ridge  or  hill,  the  height  of 
the  ship,  covered  with  foam,  and  rolling  toward  him  with  a 
tremendous  uproar.  As  this  furious  surge  approached,  rendered 
more  terrible  in  appearance  by  the  obscurity  of  night,  he 
trembled  for  the  safety  of  his  vessels.  His  own  ship  was  sud¬ 
denly  lifted  up  to  such  a  height  that  he  dreaded  lest  it  should 
be  overturned  or  cast  upon  the  rocks,  while  another  of  the 
ships  was  torn  violently  from  her  anchorage.  The  crews  were 
for  a  time  in  great  consternation,  fearing  they  should  be  swal¬ 
lowed  up ;  but  the  mountainous  surge  passed  on,  and  gradually 


LIFE  OF  cmtmvPHER  COLUMBUS'. 


375 


subsided,  after  a  violent  contest  with,  the  counter-current  of 
the  strait.*  This  sudden  rush  of  water,  it  is  supposed,  was 
caused  by  the  swelling  of  one  of  the  rivers  which  flow  into  the 
Gulf  of  Paria,  and  which  were  as  yet  unknown  to  Columbus. 

Anxious  to  extricate  himself  from  this  dangerous  neighbor¬ 
hood,  he  sent  the  boats  on  the  following  morning  to  sound  the 
depth  of  water  at  the  Boca  del  Sierpe,  and  to  ascertain  whether 
it  was  possible  for  ships  to  pass  through  to  the  northward.  To 
his  great  joy,  they  returned  with  a  report  that  there  were 
several  fathoms  of  water,  and  currents  and  eddies  setting  both 
ways,  either  *to  enter  or  return.  A  favorable  breeze  prevailing, 
he  immediately  made  sail,  and  passing  through  the  formidable 
strait  in  safety,  found  himself  in  a  tranquil  expanse  beyond. 

He  was  now  on  the  inner  side  of  Trinidad.  To  his  left  spread 
the  broad  gulf  since  known  by  the  name  of  Paria,  which  he 
supposed  to  be  the  open  sea,  but  was  surprised,  on  tasting  it, 
to  find  the  water  fresh.  He  continued  northward,  toward  a 
mountain  at  the  north-west  point  of  the  island,  about  fourteen 
leagues  from  Point  Arenal.  Here  he  beheld  two  lofty  capes 
opposite  each  other,  one  on  the  island  of  Trinidad,  the  other 
to  the  west,  on  the  long  promontory  of  Paria,  which  stretches 
from  the  main-land  and  forms  the  northern  side  of  the  gulf, 
but  which  Columbus  mistook  for  an  island,  and  named  Isla  de 
Gracia. 

Between  these  capes  there  was  another  pass,  which  appeared 
even  more  dangerous  then  the  Boca  del  Sierpe,  being  beset  with 
rocks,  among  which  the  current  forced  its  way  with  roaring 
turbulence.  To  this  pass  Columbus  gave  the  name  of  Boca  del 
Dragon.  Not  choosing  to  encounter  its  apparent  dangers,  he 
turned  northward,  on  Sunday,  the  5th  of  August,  and  steered 
along  the  inner  side  of  the  supposed  island  of  Gracia,  intending 
to  keep  on  until  he  came  to  the  end  of  it,  and  then  to  strike 
northward  into  the  free  and  open  ocean,  and  shape  his  course 
for  Hispaniola. 

It  was  a  fair  and  beautiful  coast,  indented  with  fine  harbors 
lying  close  to  each  other;  the  country  cultivated  in  many 
places,  in  others  covered  with  fruit  trees  and  stately  forests, 
and  watered  by  frequent  streams.  What  greatly  astonished 
Columbus  was  still  to  find  the  water  fresh,  and  that  it  grew 
more  and  more  so  the  farther  he  proceeded ;  it  being  that  sea- 


*  Letter  of  Columbus  to  the  Castilian  Sovereigns,  Navarrete,  Colec.,  tom.  L 
Herrera,  Hist.  Ind.,  decad.  i.  lib.  iu.  cap.  10.  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  69. 


376  LIFE  OF  CTJ R TS TOFJT FR  COLUMBUS. 

eon  of  the  year  when  the  various  rivers  which  empty  themselves 
into  this  gulf  are  swollen  by  rains,  and  pour  forth  such  quan¬ 
tities  of  fresh  water  as  to  conquer  the  saltness  of  the  ocean. 
He  was  also  surprised  at  the  placidity  of  the  sea,  which  ap¬ 
peared  as  tranquil  and  safe  as  one  vast  harbor,  so  that  there 
was  no  need  of  seeking  a  port  to  anchor  in. 

As  yet  he  had  not  been  able  to  hold  any  communication  with 
the  people  of  this  part  of  the  New  World.  The  shores  which 
he  had  visited,  though  occasionally  cultivated,  were  silent  and 
deserted,  and.  excepting  the  fugitive  party  in  the  canoe  at 
Point  Arenal,  he  had  seen  nothing  of  the  natives.  After  sail¬ 
ing  several  leagues  along  the  coast,  he  anchored,  on  Monday, 
the  6th  of  August,  at  a  place  where  there  appeared  signs  of 
cultivation,  and  sent  the  boats  on  shore.  They  found  recent 
traces  of  people,  but  not  an  individual  was  to  be  seen.  The 
coast  was  hilly,  covered  with  beautiful  and  fruitful  groves, 
and  abounding  with  monkeys.  Continuing  farther  westward, 
to  where  the  country  was  more  level,  Columbus  anchored  in  a 
river. 

Immediately  a  canoe,  with  three  or  four  Indians,  came  off  to 
the  caravel  nearest  to  the  shore,  the  captain  of  which,  pretend¬ 
ing  a  desire  to  accompany  them  to  land,  sprang  into  their 
canoe,  overturned  it,  and,  with  the  assistance  of  his  seamen, 
secured  the  Indians  as  they  were  swimming.  When  brought 
to  the  admiral,  he  gave  them  beads,  hawks’  bells,  and  sugar, 
and  sent  them  highly  gratified  on  shore,  where  many  of  their 
countrymen  were  assembled.  This  kind  treatment  had  the 
usual  effect.  Such  of  the  natives  as  had  canoes  came  off  to  the 
ships  with  the  fullest  confidence.  They  were  tall  of  stature, 
finely  formed,  and  free  and  graceful  in  their  movements. 
Their  hair  was  long  and  straight ;  some  wore  it  cut  short,  but 
none  of  them  braided  it,  as  was  the  custom  among  the  natives 
of  Hispaniola.  They  were  armed  with  bows,  arrows,  and  tar¬ 
gets  ;  the  men  wore  cotton  cloths  about  their  heads  and  loins, 
beautifully  wrought  with  various  colors,  so  as  at  a  distance  to 
look  like  silk;  but  the  women  were  entirely  naked.  They 
brought  bread,  maize,  and  other  eatables,  with  different  kinds 
of  beverage,  some  white,  made  from  maize,  and  resembling 
beer,  and  others  green,  of  a  vinous  flavor,  and  expressed  from 
various  fruits.  They  appeared  to  judge  of  everything  by  the 
sense  of  smell,  as  others  examine  objects  by  the  sight  or  touch. 
When  they  approached  a  boat,  they  smelt  to  it,  and  then  to 
the  people.  In  like  manner  everything  that  was  given  them 


377 


{LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 

was  tried.  They  set  but  little  value  upon  beads,  but  were 
extravagantly  delighted  with  hawks’  bells.  Brass  was  also 
held  in  high  estimation ;  they  appeared  to  find  something  ex¬ 
tremely  grateful  in  the  smell  of  it,  and  called  it  Turey,  signify¬ 
ing  that  it  was  from  the  skies.* 

From  these  Indians  Columbus  understood  that  the  name  of 
their  country  was  Paria,  and  that  farther  to  the  west  he  would 
find  it  more  populous.  Taking  several  of  them  to  serve  as 
guides  and  mediators,  he  proceeded  eight  leagues  westward  to 
a  point  which  he  called  Aguja  or  the  Needle.  Here  he  arrived 
at  three  o’clock  in  the  morning.  When  the  day  dawned  he 
was  delighted  with  the  beauty  of  the  country.  It  was  culti¬ 
vated  in  many  places,  highly  populous,  and  adorned  with 
magnificent  vegetation ;  habitations  were  interspersed  among 
groves  laden  with  fruits  and  flowers;  grape-vines  entwined 
themselves  among  the  trees,  and  birds  of  brilliant  plumage 
fluttered  from  branch  to  branch.  The  air  was  temperate  and 
bland,  and  sweetened  by  the  fragrance  of  flowers  and  blossoms ; 
and  numerous  fountains  and  limpid  streams  kept  up  a  uni¬ 
versal  verdure  and  freshness.  Columbus  was  so  much  charmed 
with  the  beauty  and  amenity  of  this  part  of  the  coast  that  he 
gave  it  the  name  of  The  Gardens. 

The  natives  came  off  in  great  numbers,  in  canoes,  of  superior 
construction  to  these  hitherto  seen,  being  very  large  and  light, 
with  a  cabin  in  the  centre  for  the  accommodation  of  the  owner 
and  his  family.  They  invited  Columbus,  in  the  name  of  their 
king,  to  come  to  land.  Many  of  them  had  collars  and  burn¬ 
ished  plates  about  their  necks,  of  that  inferior  kind  of  gold 
called  by  the  Indians  Guanin.  They  said  that  it  came  from  a 
high  land,  which  they  pointed  out,  at  no  great  distance,  to  the 
west,  but  intimated  that  it  was  dangerous  to  go  there,  either 
because  the  inhabitants  were  cannibals,  or  the  place  infested 
by  venomous  animals,  f  But  what  aroused  the  attention  and 
awakened  the  cupidity  of  the  Spaniards,  was  the  sight  of 
strings  of  pearls  round  the  arms  of  some  of  the  natives. 
These,  they  informed  Columbus,  were  procured  on  the  sea- 
coast,  on  the  northern  side  of  Paria,  which  he  still  supposed  to 
be  an  island;  and  they  showed  the  mother-of-pearl  shells 
whence  they  had  been  taken.  Anxious  for  further  informa¬ 
tion,  and  to  procure  specimens  of  these  pearls  to  send  to  Spain, 


*  Herrera,  Hist.  Ind.,  decad.  i.  lib.  iii.  cap.  11. 

t  Letter  of  Columbus  to  the  Castilian  Sovereigns,  Navarrete  Colec,,  tom,  i.  p.  862, 


378 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


he  dispatched  the  boats  to  shore.  A  multitude  of  the  native^ 
came  to  the  beach  to  receive  them,  headed  by  the  chief  cacique 
and  his  son.  They  treated  the  Spaniards  with  profound  rever¬ 
ence,  as  beings  descended  from  heaven,  and  conducted  them  to 
a  spacious  house,  the  residence  of  the  cacique,  where  they  were 
regaled  with  bread  and  various  fruits  of  excellent  flavor,  and 
the  different  kinds  of  beverage  already  mentioned.  While 
they  were  in  the  house,  the  men  remained  together  at  one  end 
of  it,  and  the  women  at  the  other.  After  they  had  finished 
their  collation  at  the  house  of  the  cacique,  they  were  taken  to 
that  of  his  son,  where  a  like  repast  was  set  before  them.  These 
people  were  remarkably  affable,  though,  at  the  same  time,  they 
possessed  a  more  intrepid  and  martial  air  and  spirit  than  the 
natives  of  Cuba  and  Hispaniola.  They  were  fairer,  Columbus 
observes,  than  any  he  had  yet  seen,  though  so  near  to  the 
equinoctial  line,  where  he  had  expected  to  find  them  of  the 
color  of  Ethiopians.  Many  ornaments  of  gold  were  seen  among 
them,  but  all  of  an  inferior  quality :  one  Indian  had  a  piece  of 
the  size  of  an  apple.  They  had  various  kinds  of  domesticated 
parrots,  one  of  a  light  green  color,  with  a  yellow  neck,  and  tho 
tips  of  the  wings  of  a  bright  red;  others  of  the  size  of  domestic 
fowls,  and  of  a  vivid  scarlet,  excepting  some  azure  feathers  in 
the  wings.  These  they  readily  gave  to  the  Spaniards;  but 
what  the  latter  most  coveted  were  the  pearls,  of  which  they 
saw  many  necklaces  and  bracelets  among  the  Indian  women. 
The  latter  gladly  gave  them  in  exchange  for  hawks’  bells  or 
any  article  of  brass,  and  several  specimens  of  fine  pearls  were 
procured  for  the  admiral  to  send  to*the  sovereign.* 

The  kindness  and  amity  of  this  people  were  heightened  by 
an  intelligent  demeanor  and  a  martial  frankness.  They  seemed 
worthy  of  the  beautiful  country  they  inhabited.  It  was  a  cause 
of  great  concern  both  to  them  and  the  Spaniards,  that  they 
could  not  understand  each  other’s  language.  They  conversed, 
however,  by  signs;  mutual  good-will  made  their  intercourse 
easy  and  pleasant ;  and  at  the  hour  of  vespers  the  Spaniards 
returned  on  board  of  their  ships,  highly  gratified  with  their 
entertainment. 


*  Letter  of  Columbus.  Herrera,  Hist.  Ind.,  decad.  i.  lib.  iii.  cap.  11.  Hist,  del 
Alrni  route,  cap.  70. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


379 


CHAPTER  III. 

CONTINUATION  OF  THE  VOYAGE  THROUGH  THE  GULF  OF  PARIA — 

RETURN  TO  HISPANIOLA. 

[1498.] 

The  quantity  of  fine  pearls  found  among  the  natives  of 
Paria  was  sufficient  to  arouse  the  sanguine  anticipations  of 
Columbus.  It  appeared  to  corroborate  the  theory  of  Ferrer, 
the  learned  jeweller,  that  as  he  approached  the  equator  he 
would  find  the  most  rare  and  precious  productions  of  nature. 
His  active  imagination,  with  its  intuitive  rapidity,  seized 
upon  every  circumstance  in  unison  with  his  wishes,  and, 
combining  them,  drew  thence  the  most  brilliant  inferences. 
He  had  read  in  Pliny  that  pearls  are  generated  from  drops 
of  dew  which  fall  into  the  mouths  of  oysters;  if  so,  what 
place  could  be  more  propitious  to  their  growth  and  multipli¬ 
cation  than  the  coast  of  Paria?  The  dew  in  those  parts  was 
heavy  and  abundant,  and  the  oysters  were  so  plentiful  that 
they  clustered  about  the  roots  and  pendant  branches  of  the 
mangrove  trees,  which  grew  within  the  margin  of  the  tran¬ 
quil  sea.  When  a  branch  which  had  drooped  for  a  time  in  the 
water  was  drawn  forth,  it  was  found  covered  with  oysters. 
Las  Casas,  noticing  this  sanguine  conclusion  of  Columbus,  ob¬ 
serves,  that  the  shell-fish  here  spoken  of  are  not  of  the  kind 
which  produce  pearl,  for  that  those  by  a  natural  instinct,  as  if 
conscious  of  their  precious  charge,  hide  themselves  in  the 
deepest  water.* 

Still  imagining  the  coast  of  Paria  to  be  an  island,  and 
anxious  to  circumnavigate  it,  and  arrive  at  the  place  where 
these  pearls  were  said  by  the  Indians  to  abound,  Columbus 
left  the  Gardens  on  the  10th  of  August,  and  contmued  coast¬ 
ing  westward  within  the  gulf,  in  search  of  an  outlet  to  the 
north.  He  observed  portions  of  Terra  Firma  appearing  to¬ 
ward  the  bottom  of  the  gulf,  which  he  supposed  to  be  islands, 
and  called  them  Isabeta  and  Tramontana,  and  fancied  that 
the  desired  outlet  to  the  sea  must  lie  between  them.  As  he 
advanced,  however,  he  found  the  water  continually  growing 


♦Las  Casas,  Hist.  Ind.,  cap.  136. 


380 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS . 


shallower  and  fresher,  until  he  did  not  dare  to  venture  any 
farther  with  his  ship,  which,  he  observed,  was  of  too  great  a 
size  for  expeditions  of  this  kind,  being  of  an  hundred  tons 
burden,  and  requiring  three  fathoms  of  water.  He  came  to 
anchor,  therefore,  and  sent  a  light  caravel  called  the  Correo, 
to  ascertain  whether  there  was  an  outlet  to  the  ocean  be¬ 
tween  the  supposed  islands.  The  caravel  returned  on  the 
following  day,  reporting  that  at  the  western  end  of  the  gulf 
there  was  an  opening  of  two  leagues,  which  led  into  an  inner 
and  circular  gulf,  surrounded  by  four  openings,  apparently 
smaller  gulfs,  or  rather  mouths  of  rivers,  from  which  flowed 
the  great  quantity  of  fresh  water  that  sweetened  the  neigh¬ 
boring  sea.  In  fact,  from  one  of  these  mouths  issued  the 
great  river  the  Cuparipari,  or,  as  it  is  now  called,  the  Paria. 
To  this  inner  and  circular  gulf  Columbus  gave  the  name  of 
the  Gulf  of  Pearls,  through  a  mistaken  idea  that  they  abounded 
in  its  waters,  though  none,  in  fact,  are  found  there.  He  still 
imagined  that  the  four  openings  of  which  the  mariners  spoke 
might  be  intervals  between  islands,  though  they  affirmed  that 
all  the  land  he  saw  was  connected.*  As  it  was  impossible  to 
proceed  further  westward  with  his  ships,  he  had  no  alterna¬ 
tive  but  to  retrace  his  course,  and  seek  an  exit  to  the  north 
by  the  Boca  del  Dragon.  He  would  gladly  have  continued  for 
some  time  to  explore  this  coast,  for  he  considered  himself  in 
one  of  those  opulent  regions  described  as  the  most  favored 
upon  earth,  and  which  increase  in  riches  toward  the  equator. 
Imperious  considerations,  however,  compelled  him  to  shorten 
his  voyage,  and  hasten  to  San  Domingo.  The  sea-stores  of  his 
ships  were  almost  exhausted,  and  the  various  supplies  for  the 
colony,  with  which  they  were  freighted,  were  in  danger  of 
spoiling.  He  was  suffering,  also,  extremely  in  his  health. 
Besides  the  gout,  which  had  rendered  him  a  cripple  for  the 
greater  part  of  the  voyage,  he  was  afflicted  by  a  complaint 
in  his  eyes,  caused  by  fatigue  and  over-watching,  which  al¬ 
most  deprived  him  of  sight.  Even  the  voyage  along  the 
coast  of  Cuba,  he  observes,  in  which  he  was  three  and  thirty 
days  almost  without  sleep,  had  not  so  injured  his  eyes  and 
disordered  his  frame,  or  caused  him  so  much  painful  suffering 
as  the  present.! 

On  the  11th  of  August,  therefore,  he  set  sail  eastward  for 


*  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  78. 

t  Letter  of  Columbus  to  the  Sovereigns,  Navarrete,  tom.  i.  p.  89g 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


381 


the  Boca  del  Dragon,  and  was  borne  along  with  great  velocity 
by  the  currents,  which,  however,  prevented  him  from  landing 
again  at  his  favorite  spot,  the  Gardens.  On  Sunday,  the  13th, 

,  he  anchored  near  to  the  Boca,  in  a  fine  harbor,  to  which  he 
gave  the  name  of  Puerto  de  Gatos,  from  a  species  of  monkey 
called  gato  paulo,with  which  the  neighborhood  abounded.  On 
the  margin  of  the  sea  he  perceived  many  trees  which,  as  he 
thought,  produced  the  mirabolane,  a  fruit  only  found  in  the 
countries  of  the  East.  There  were  great  numbers  also  of  man¬ 
groves  growing  within  the  water,  with  oysters  clinging  to 
their  branches,  their  mouths  open,  as  he  supposed,  to  receive 
the  dew,  which  was  afterward  to  be  transformed  to  pearls.* 

On  the  following  morning,  the  ifth  of  August,  toward  noon 
the  ships  approached  the  Boca  del  Dragon,  and  prepared  to 
venture  through  that  formidable  pass.  The  distance  from 
Cape  Boto  at  the  end  of  Paria,  and  Cape  Lapa  the  extremity  of 
Trinidad,  is  about  five  leagues ;  but  in  the  interval  there  were 
two  islands,  which  Columbus  named  Caracol  and  Delphin. 
The  impetuous  body  of  fresh  water  which  flows  through  the 
gulf,  particularly  in  the  rainy  months  of  July  and  August,  is 
confined  at  narrow  outlets  between  these  islands,  where  it 
causes  a  turbulent  sea,  foaming  and  roaring  as  if  breaking 
over  rocks,  and  rendering  the  entrance  and  exit  of  the  gulf 
extremely  dangerous.  The  horrors  and  perils  of  such  places 
are  always  tenfold  to  discoverers,  who  have  no  chart,  nor 
pilot,  nor  advice  of  previous  voyager,  to  guide  them.  Colum¬ 
bus,  at  first,  apprehended  sunken  rocks  and  shoals ;  but  on  at¬ 
tentively  considering  the  commotion  of  the  strait,  he  attrib¬ 
uted  it  to  the  conflict  between  the  prodigious  body  of  fresh 
water  setting  through  the  gulf  and  struggling  for  an  outlet, 
and  the  tide  of  salt  water  struggling  to  enter.  The  ships  had 
scarcely  ventured  into  the  fearful  channel  when  the  wind  died 
away,  and  they  were  in  danger  every  moment  of  being  thrown 
upon  the  rocks  or  sands.  The  current  of  fresh  water,  how¬ 
ever,  gained  the  victory,  and  carried  them  safely  through. 
The  admiral,  when  once  more  safe  in  the  open  sea,  congratu¬ 
lated  himself  upon  his  escape  from  this  perilous  strait,  which, 
he  observes,  might  well  be  called  the  Mouth  of  the  Dragon,  f 
He  now  stood  to  the  westward,  running  along  the  outer  coast 
of  Paria,  still  supposing  it  an  island,  and  intending  to  visit  the 


♦Herrera,  Hist.  Ind.,  decad.  i.  lib.  iii.  cap.  10. 
$  Ibid.,  cap.  11.  ^ 


382 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


Gulf  of  Pearls,  which  he  imagined  to  be  at  the  end  of  it,  open¬ 
ing  to  the  sea.  He  wished  to  ascertain  whether  this  great  body 
of  fresh  water  proceeded  from  rivers,  as  the  crew  of  the  caravel 
Correo  had  affirmed ;  for  it  appeared  to  him  impossible  that  the 
streams  of  mere  islands,  as  he  supposed  the  surrounding  lands, 
could  furnish  such  a  prodigious  volume  of  water. 

On  leaving  the  Boca  del  Dragon,  he  saw  to  the  north-east, 
many  leagues  distant,  two  islands,  which  he  called  Assumption 
and  Conception;  probably  those  now  known  as  Tobago  and 
Granada.  In  his  course  along  the  northern  coast  of  Paria  he 
saw  several  other  small  islands  and  many  fine  harbors,  to  some 
of  which  he  gave  names,  but  they  have  ceased  to  be  known  by 
them.  On  the  15th  he  discovered  the  islands  of  Margarita  and 
Cuhagua,  afterward  famous  for  their  pearl  fishery.  The  Island 
of  Margarita,  about  fifteen  leagues  in  length  and  six  in  breadth, 
was  well  peopled.  The  little  island  of  Cubagua,  lying  between 
it  and  the  mainland,  and  only  about  four  leagues  from  the 
latter,  was  dry  and  sterile,  without  either  wood  or  fresh  water, 
but  possessing  a  good  harbor.  On  approaching  this  island  the 
admiral  beheld  a  numher  of  Indians  fishing  for  pearls,  who 
made  for  the  land.  A  boat  being  sent  to  communicate  with 
them,  one  of  the  sailors  noticed  many  strings  of  pearls  round 
the  neck  of  a  female.  Having  a  plate  of  Valencia  ware,  a  kind 
of  porcelain  painted  and  varnished  with  gaudy  colors,  he  broke 
it,  and  presented  the  pieces  to  the  Indian  woman,  who  gave  him 
in  exchange  a  considerable  number  of  her  pearls.  These  he 
carried  to  the  admiral,  who  immediately  sent  persons  on  shore, 
well  provided  with  Valencian  plates  and  hawks’  bells,  for  which 
in  a  little  time  he  procured  about  three  pounds’  weight  of 
pearls,  some  of  which  were  of  a  very  large  size,  and  were  sent 
by  him  afterward  to  the  soverigns  as  specimens.* 

There  was  great  temptation  to  visit  other  spots,  which  the 
Indians  mentioned  as  abounding  in  pearls.  The  coast  of  Paria 
also  continued  extending  to  the  westward  as  far  as  the  eye 
could  reach,  rising  into  a  range  of  mountains,  and  provoking 
examination  to  ascertain  whether,  as  he  began  to  think,  it  was 
a  paid  of  the  Asiatic  continent.  Columbus  was  compelled, 
however,  though  with  the  greatest  reluctance,  to  forego  this 
most  interesting  investigation. 

The  malady  of  his  eyes  had  now  grown  so  virulent  that  he 
could  no  longer  take  observations  or  keep  a  lookout,  but  had  to 


*  Charlevoix:,  Hist.  St.  Domingo,  lib.  iii.  p.  169. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


j 


383 


trust  to  the  reports  of  the  pilots  and  mariners.  He  bore  away, 
therefore,  for  Hispaniola,  intending  to  repose  there  from  the 
toils  of  his  voyage,  and  to  recruit  his  health,  while  he  should 
send  his  brother,  the  Adelantado,  to  complete  the  discovery  of 
this  important  country.  After  sailing  for  five  days  to  the 
north-west,  he  made  the  island  of  Hispaniola  on  the  19th  of 
August,  fifty  leagues  to  the  westward  of  the  rh  er  Ozema,  the 
place  of  his  destination ;  and  anchored  on  the  following  morn¬ 
ing  under  the  little  island  of  Beata. 

He  was  astonished  to  find  himself  so  mistaken  in  his  calcula¬ 
tions,  and  so  far  below  his  destined  port ;  but  he  attributed  it 
correctly  to  the  force  of  the  current  setting  out  of  the  Boca  del 
Dragon,  which,  while  he  had  lain  to  at  nights,  to  avoid  running 
on  rocks  and  shoals,  had  borne  his  ship  insensibly  to  the  west. 
This  current  which  sets  across  the  Carribean  Sea,  and  the  con¬ 
tinuation  of  which  now  bears  the  name  of  the  Gulf  Stream,  was 
so  rapid,  that  on  the  15th,  though  the  wind  was  but  moderate, 
the  ships  had  made  seventy-five  leagues  in  four  and  twenty 
hours.  Columbus  attributed  to  the  violence  of  this  current  the 
formation  of  that  pass  called  the  Boca  del  Dragon,  where  he 
supposed  it  had  forced  its  way  through  a  narrow  isthmns  that 
formerly  connected  Trinadad  with  the  extremity  of  Paria.  He 
imagined,  also,  that  its  constant  operation  had  worn  away  and 
inundated  the  borders  of  the  main-land,  gradually  producing 
that  fringe  of  islands  which  stretches  from  Trinidad  to  the 
Lucayos  or  Bahamas,  and  which,  according  to  his  idea,  had 
originally  been  part  of  the  solid  continent.  In  corroboration  of 
this  opinion,  he  notices  the  form  of  those  islands :  narrow  from 
north  to  south,  and  extending  in  length  from  east  to  west,  in 
t'he  direction  of  the  current.* 

The  island  of  Beata,  where  he  had  anchored,  is  about  thirty 
leagues  to  the  west  of  the  river  Ozema,  where  he  expected  to 
find  the  new  seaport  which  his  brother  had  been  instructed  to 
establish.  The  strong  and  steady  current  from  the  east,  how¬ 
ever,  and  the  prevalence  of  winds  from  that  quarter,  might 
detain  him  for  a  long  time  at  the  island,  and  render  the  re¬ 
mainder  of  his  voyage  slow  and  precarious.  He  sent  a  boat  on 
shore,  therefore,  to  procure  an  Indian  messenger  to  take  a 
letter  to  his  brother,  the  Adelantado.  Six  of  the  natives  came 
off  to  the  ships,  one  of  whom  was  armed  with  a  Spanish  cross¬ 
bow.  The  admiral  was  alarmed  at  seeing  a  weapon  of  the  kind 


♦  Letter  to  the  King  and  Queen,  Navarrete  Colec.,  tom.  i, 

g 


384 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


in  the  possession  of  an  Indian.  It  was  not  an  article  of  traffic, 
and  lie  feared  could  only  have  fallen  into  his  hands  by  the 
death  of  some  Spaniard.*  He  apprehended  that  further  evils 
had  befallen  the  settlement,  during  his  long  absence,  and  that 
there  had  again  been  troubles  with  the  natives. 

Having  dispatched  his  messenger,  he  made  sail,  and  arrived 
off  the  mouth  of  the  river  on  the  30th  of  August.  He  was  met 
on  the  way  by  a  caravel  ,  on  board  of  which  was  the  Adelantado, 
who,  having  received  his  letter,  had  hastened  forth  with  affec¬ 
tionate  ardor  to  welcome  his  arrival.  The  meeting  of  the 
brothers  was  a  cause  of  mutual  joy;  they  were  strongly 
attached  to  each  other,  each  had  had  his  trials  and  sufferings 
during  their  long  separation,  and  each  looked  with  confidence 
to  the  other  for  comfort  and  relief.  Don  Bartholomew  appeal's 
to  have  always  had  great  deference  for  the  brilliant  genius,  the 
enlarged  mind,  and  the  commanding  reputation  of  his  brother ; 
while  the  latter  placed  great  reliance  in  times  of  difficulty,  on 
the  worldly  knowledge,  the  indefatigable  activity,  and  the  lion- 
hearted  courage  of  the  Adelantado. 

Columbus  arrived  almost  the  wreck  of  himself.  His  voyages 
were  always  of  a  nature  to  wear  out  the  human  frame,  having 
to  navigate  amid  unknown  dangers,  and  to  keep  anxious  watch, 
at  all  hours,  and  in  all  weathers.  As  age  and  infirmity  increased 
upon  him,  these  trials  became  the  more  severe.  His  constitu¬ 
tion  must  originally  have  been  wonderfully  vigorous :  but  con¬ 
stitutions  of  this  powerful  kind,  if  exposed  to  severe  hardships 
at  an  advanced  period  of  life,  when  the  frame  has  become  some¬ 
what  rigid  and  unaccommodating,  are  apt  to  be  suddenly  broken 
up,  and  to  be  a  prey  to  violent  aches  and  maladies.  In  this 
last  voyage  Columbus  had  been  parched  and  consumed  by  fever, 
racked  by  gout,  and  his  whole  system  disordered  by  incessant 
watchfulness ;  he  came  into  port  haggard,  emaciated,  and  almost 
blind.  His  spirit,  however,  was,  as  usual,  superior  to  all  bodily 
affliction  or  decay,  and  he  looked  forward  with  magnificent 
anticipations  to  the  result  of  his  recent  discoveries,  which  he 
intended  should  be  immediately  prosecuted  by  his  hardy  and 
enterprising  brother. 


*  Las  Casas,  Hist.  Ind.,  lib.  i.  cap.  148. 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


385 


'  CHAPTER  IV. 

SPECULATIONS  OF  COLUMBUS  CONCERNING  THE  COAST  OF  PARIA. 

[1498.] 

The  natural  phenomena  of  a  great  and  striking  nature  pre¬ 
sented  to  the  ardent  mind  of  Columbus  in  the  course  of  this 
voyage,  led  to  certain  sound  deductions  and  imaginative  specu¬ 
lations.  The  immense  body  of  fresh  water  flowing  into  the 
the  Gulf  of  Paria,  and  thence  rushing  into  the  ocean,  was  too 
vast  to  be  produced  by  an  island  or  by  islands.  It  must  be  the 
congregated  streams  of  a  great  extent  of  country  pouring  forth 
in  one  mighty  river,  and  the  land  necessary  to  furnish  such  a 
river  must  be  a  continent.  He  now  supposed  that  most  of  the 
tracts  of  land  which  he  had  seen  about  the  Gulf  were  connected ; 
that  the  coast  of  Paria  extended  westward  far  beyond  a  chain 
of  mountains  which  he  had  beheld  afar  off  from  Margarita ; 
and  that  the  land  opposite  to  Trinidad,  instead  of  being  an 
island,  continued  to  the  south,  far  beyond  the  equator,  into  that 
hemisphere  hitherto  unknown  to  civilized  man.  He  considered 
all  this  an  extension  of  the  Asiatic  continent ;  thus  presuming 
that  the  greater  part  of  the  surface  of  the  globe  was  firm  land. 
In  this  last  opinion  he  found  himself  supported  by  authors  of 
the  highest  name  both  ancient  and  modern ;  among  whom  he 
cites  Aristotle  and  Seneca,  St.  Augustine  and  Cardinal  Pedro 
de  Alliaco.  He  lays  particular  stress  also  on  the  assertion  of 
the  apocryphal  Esdras,  that  of  seven  parts  of  the  world,  six  are 
dry  land,  and  one  part  only  is  covered  with  water. 

The  land,  therefore,  surrounding  the  Gulf  of  Paria,  was  but 
the  border  of  an  almost  boundless  continent,  stretching  far  to 
the  west  and  to  the  south,  including  the  most  precious  regions 
of  the  earth,  lying  under  the  most  auspicious  stars  and  benig¬ 
nant  skies,  but  as  yet  unknown  and  uncivilized,  free  to  be  dis¬ 
covered  and  appropriated  by  any  Christian  nation.  “May  it 
please  our  Lord,”  he  exclaims  in  his  letter  to  the  sovereigns, 
“to  give  long  life  and  health  to  your  highnesses,  that  you  may 
prosecute  this  noble  enterprise,  in  which,  methinks,  God  will 
receive  great  service,  Spain  vast  increase  of  grandeur,  and  all 
Christians  much  consolation  and  delight,  since  the  name  of  our 
Saviour  will  be  divulged  throughout  these  lands.” 


386 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


Thus  far  the  deductions  of  Columbus,  though  sanguine, 
admit  of  little  cavil ;  but  he  carried  them  still  farther,  until  they 
ended  in  what  may  appear  some  mere  chimerical  reveries.  In 
his  letter  to  the  sovereigns  he  stated  that  on  his  former  voyages, 
when  he  steered  westward  from  the  Azores,  he  had  observed, 
after  sailing  about  a  hundred  leagues,  a  sudden  and  great  change 
in  the  sky  and  the  stars,  the  temperature  of  the  air,  and  the 
calmness  of  the  ocean.  It  seemed  as  if  a  line  ran  from  north  to 
south,  beyond  which  everything  became  different.  The  needle 
which  had  previously  inclined  toward  the  north-east,  now  varied 
a  whole  point  to  the  north-west.  The  sea,  hitherto  clear,  was 
covered  with  weeds  so  dense  that  in  his  first  voyage  he  had 
expected  to  run  aground  upon  shoals.  A  universal  tranquillity 
reigned  throughout  the  elements,  and  the  climate  was  mild  and 
genial  whether  in  summer  or  winter.  On  taking  his  astronomi¬ 
cal  observations  at  night,  after  crossing  that  imaginary  line, 
the  north  star  appeared  to  him  to  describe  a  diurnal  circle  in 
the  heavens,  of  five  degrees  in  diameter. 

On  his  present  voyage  he  had  varied  his  route,  and  had  run 
southward  from  the  Cape  de  Verde  Islands  for  the  equinoctial 
line.  Before  reaching  it,  however,  the  heat  had  become  insup¬ 
portable,  and  a  wind  springing  up  from  the  east,  he  had  been 
induced  to  strike  westward,  when  in  the  parallel  of  Sierra  Leone 
in  Guinea.  For  several  days  he  had  been  almost  consumed  by 
scorching  and  stifling  heat  under  a  sultry  yet  clouded  sky,  and 
in  a  drizzling  atmosphere,  until  he  arrived  at  the  ideal  line 
already  mentioned,  extending  from  north  to  south.  Here  sud¬ 
denly,  to  his  great  relief,  he  had  emerged  into  serene  weather, 
with  a  clear  blue  sky  and  a  sweet  and  temperate  atmosphere. 
The  farther  he  had  proceeded  west,  the  more  pure  and  genial  he 
had  found  the  climate ;  the  sea  tranquil,  the  breezes  soft  and 
balmy.  All  these  phenomena  coincided  with  those  he  had 
remarked  at  the  same  line,  though  farther  north,  in  his  former 
voyages ;  excepting  that  here  there  was  no  herbage  in  the  sea, 
and  the  movements  of  stars  were  different.  The  polar  star  ap¬ 
peared  to  him  here  to  describe  a  diurnal  circle  of  ten  degrees 
instead  of  five ;  an  augmentation  which  struck  him  with  aston¬ 
ishment,  but  which,  he  says,  he  ascertained  by  observations 
taken  in  different  nights,  with  his  quadrant.  Its  greatest  alti¬ 
tude  at  the  former  place,  in  the  parallel  of  the  Azores,  he  had 
found  to  be  ten  degrees,  and  in  the  present  place  fifteen. 

From  these  and  other  circumstances,  he  was  inclined  to  doubt 
the  received  theory  with  resr»«ct  to  the  form  of  the  earth.  Philo- 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


387 


gophers  had  described  it  as  spherical;  but  they  knew  nothing 
of  the  part  of  the  world  which  he  had  discovered.  The  ancient 
part,  known  to  them,  he  had  no  doubt  was  spherical,  but  he 
now  supposed  the  real  form  of  the  earth  to  be  that  of  a  pear, 
one  part  much  more  elevated  than  the  rest,  and  tapering  up* 
ward  toward  the  skies.  This  part  he  supposed  to  be  in  the  in¬ 
terior  of  this  newly  found  continent,  and  immediately  under 
the  equator.  All  the  phenomena  which  he  had  previously  no¬ 
ticed,  appeared  to  corroborate  this  theory.  The  variations 
which  he  had  observed  in  passing  the  imaginary  line  running 
from  north  to  south,  he  concluded  to  be  caused  by  the  ships 
having  arrived  at  this  supposed  swelling  of  the  earth,  where 
they  began  gently  to  mount  toward  the  skies  into  a  purer  and 
more  celestial  atmosphere.*  The  variation  of  the  needle  he 
ascribed  to  the  same  cause,  being  affected  by  the  coolness  and 
mildness  of  the  climate ;  varying  to  the  north-west  in  propor¬ 
tion  as  the  ships  continued  onward  in  their  ascent,  f  So  also 
the  altitude  of  the  north  star,  and  the  circle  it  described  in  the 
heavens,  appeared  to  be  greater,  in  consequence  of  being 
regarded  from  a  greater  elevation,  less  obliquely,  and  through 
a  purer  medium  of  atmosphere ;  and  these  phenomena  would  be 
found  to  increase  the  more  the  navigator  approached  the  equa¬ 
tor,  from  the  still  increasing  eminence  of  this  part  of  the  earth. 

He  noticed  also  the  difference  of  climate,  vegetation,  and 
people  of  this  part  of  the  New  World  from  those  under  the 
same  parallel  in  Africa.  There  the  heat  was  insupportable,  the 
land  parched  and  sterile,  the  inhabitants  were  black,  with 
crisped  wool,  ill-shapen  in  their  forms,  and  dull  and  brutal  in 
their  natures.  Here,  on  the  contrary,  although  the  sun  was  in 
Leo,  he  found  the  noontide  heat  moderate,  the  mornings  and 
evenings  fresh  and  cool,  the  country  green  and  fruitful,  and 
covered  with  beautiful  forests,  the  people  fairer  even  than 
those  in  the  lands  he  had  discovered  farther  north,  having  long 
hair,  with  well-proportioned  and  graceful  forms,  lively  minds, 


*  Peter  Martyr  mentions  that  the  admiral  told  him,  that,  from  the  climate  of 
great  heat  and  unwholesome  air,  he  had  ascended  the  back  of  the  sea,  as  it  were  as¬ 
cending  a  high  mountain  toward  heaven.  Decad.  i.  lib.  vi. 

t  Columbus,  in  his  attempts  to  account  for  the  variation  of  the  needle,  supposed 
that  the  north  star  possessed  the  quality  of  the  four  cardinal  points,  as  did  likewise 
the  loadstone.  That  if  the  needle  were  touched  with  one  part  of  the  loadstone,  it 
would  point  east,  with  another  west,  and  so  on.  Wherefore,  he  adds,  those  who 
prepare  or  magnetize  the  needles,  cover  the  loadstone  with  a  cloth,  so  that  the 
north  part  only  remains  out;  that  is  to  say,  the  part  which  possesses  the  virtue  of 
causing  the  needle  to  point  to  the  north.  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  66. 


388 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


and  courageous  dispositions.  All  this  in  a  latitude  so  near  to 
the  equator,  he  attributed  to  the  superior  altitude  of  this  part 
of  the  world,  by  which  it  was  raised  into  a  more  celestial  region 
of  the  air.  On  turning  northward,  through  the  Gulf  of  Paria, 
he  had  found  the  circle  described  by  the  north  star  again  to 
diminish.  The  current  of  the  sea  also  increased  in  velocity, 
wearing  away,  as  has  already  been  remarked,  the  borders  of 
the  continent,  and  producing  by  its  incessant  operation  the 
adjacent  islands.  This  was  a  further  confirmation  of  the  idea 
that  he  ascended  in  going  southward,  and  descended  in  return¬ 
ing  northward. 

Aristotle  had  imagined  that  the  highest  part  of  the  earth,  and 
the  nearest  to  the  skies,  was  under  the  antarctic  pole.  Other 
sages  had  maintained  that  it  was  under  the  arctic.  Hence  it 
was  apparent  that  both  conceived  one  part  of  the  earth  to  be 
more  elevated  and  noble,  and  nearer  to  the  heavens  than  the 
rest.  They  did  not  think  of  this  eminence  being  under  the 
equinoctial  line,  observed  Columbus,  because  they  had  no  cer¬ 
tain  knowledge  of  this  hemisphere,  but  only  spoke  of  it  theo¬ 
retically  and  from  conjecture. 

As  usual,  he  assisted  his  theory  by  Holy  Writ.  “The  sun, 
when  God  created  it,”  he  observes,  “was  in  the  first  point  of 
the  Orient,  or  the  first  light  was  there.”  That  place,  according 
to  his  idea,  must  be  here,  in  the  remotest  part  of  the  East, 
where  the  ocean  and  the  extreme  part  of  India  meet  under  the 
equinoctial  line,  and  where  the  highest  point  of  the  earth  is 
situated. 

He  supposed  this  apex  of  the  world,  though  of  immense 
height,  to  be  neither  rugged  nor  precipitous,  but  that  the  land 
rose  to  it  by  gentle  and  imperceptible  degrees.  The  beautiful 
and  fertile  shores  of  Paria  were  situated  on  its  remote  borders, 
abounding  of  course  with  those  precious  articles  which  are  con¬ 
genial  with  the  most  favored  and  excellent  climates.  As  one 
penetrated  the  interior  and  gradually  ascended,  the  land  would 
be  found  to  increase  in  beauty  and  luxuriance,  and  in  the 
exquisite  nature  of  its  productions,  until  one  arrived  at  the 
summit  under  the  equator.  This  he  imagined  to  be  the  noblest 
and  most  perfect  place  on  earth,  enjoying  from  its  position  an 
equality  of  nights  and  days  and  a  uniformity  of  seasons ;  and 
being  elevated  into  a  serene  and  heavenly  temperature,  above 
the  heats  and  colds,  the  clouds  and  vapors,  the  storms  and 
tempests  which  deform  and  disturb  the  lower  regions.  In  a 
Vord,  here  he  supposed  to  be  situated  the  original  abode  of  our 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS.  389 

first  parents,  the  primitive  seat  of  human  innocence  and  bliss, 
the  Garden  of  Eden,  or  terrestrial  paradise ! 

He  imagined  this  place,  according  to  the  opinion  of  the  most 
eminent  fathers  of  the  church,  to  be  still  flourishing,  possessed 
of  all  its  blissful  delights,  but  inaccessible  to  mortal  feet, 
excepting  by  divine  permission.  From  this  height  he  presumed, 
though  of  course  from  a  great  distance,  proceeded  the  mighty 
stream  of  fresh  water  which  filled  the  Gulf  of  Paria,  and 
sweetened  the  salt  ocean  in  its  vicinity,  being  supplied  by  the 
fountain  mentioned  in  Genesis  as  springing  from  the  tree  of 
life  in  the  Garden  of  Eden. 

Such  was  the  singular  speculation  of  Columbus,  which  he 
details  at  full  length  in  a  letter  to  the  Castilian  sovereigns,* 
citing  various  authorities  for  his  opinions,  among  which  were  St. 
Augustine,  St.  Isidor,  and  St.  Ambrosius,  and  fortifying  his 
theory  with  much  of  that  curious  and  speculative  erudition  in 
which  he  was  deeply  versed,  f  It  shows  how  his  ardent  mind 
was  heated  by  the  magnificence  of  his  discoveries.  Shrewd 
men,  in  the  coolness  and  quietude  of  ordinary  life,  and  in  these 
modern  days  of  cautious  and  sober  fact,  may  smile  at  such  a 
reverie,  but  it  was  countenanced  by  the  speculations  of  the 
most  sage  and  learned  of  those  times ;  and  if  this  had  not  been 
the  case,  could  we  wonder  at  any  sally  of  the  imagination  in  a 
man  placed  in  the  situation  of  Columbus?  He  beheld  avast 
world,  rising,  as  it  were,  into  existence  before  him,  its  nature 
and  extent  unknown  and  undefined,  as  yet  a  mere  region  for 
conjecture.  Every  day  displayed  some  new  feature  of  beauty 
and  sublimity;  island  after  island,  where  the  rocks,  he  was 
told,  were  veined  with  gold,  the  groves  teemed  with  spices,  or 
the  shores  abounded  with  pearls.  Interminable  ranges  of 
coast,  promontory  beyond  promontory,  stretching  as  far  as  the 
eye  could  reach ;  luxuriant  valleys  sweeping  away  into  a  vast 
interior,  whose  distant  mountains,  he  was  told,  concealed  still 
happier  lands,  and  realms  of  greater  opulence.  When  he 


*  Navarrete,  Colec.  de  Viages,  tom.  i.  p.  242. 

t  See  Illustrations,  article  “  Situation  of  the  Terrestrial  Paradise.” 

Note. — A  great  part  of  these  speculations  appear  to  have  been  founded  on  the 
treatise  of  the  Cardinal  Pedro  de  Aliaco,  in  which  Columbus  found  a  compendium 
of  the  opinions  of  various  eminent  authors  on  the  subject;  though  it  is  very  proba^ 
ble  he  consulted  many  of  their  works  likewise.  In  the  volume  of  Pedro  de  Aliaco, 
existing  in  the  library  of  the  Cathedral  at  Seville,  I  have  traced  the  germs  of  these 
ideas  in  various  passages  of  the  text,  opposite  to  which  marginal  notes  have  been 
made  in  the  handwriting  of  Columbus, 


390 


LIFE  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


looked  upon  all  this  region  of  golden  promise,  it  was  with  the 
glorious  conviction  that  his  genius  had  called  it  into  existence ; 
he  regarded  it  with  the  triumphant  eye  of  a  discoverer.  Had 
not  Columbus  been  capable  of  these  enthusiastic  soarings  of 
the  imagination,  he  might,  with  other  sages,  have  reasoned 
calmly  and  coldly  in  his  closet  about  the  probability  of  a  conti¬ 
nent  existing  in  the  west;  but  he  would  never  have  had  the 
daring  enterprise  to  adventure  in  search  of  it  into  the  unknown 
realms  of  ocean. 

Still,  in  the  midst  of  his  fanciful  speculations,  we  find  that 
sagacity  which  formed  the  basis  of  his  character.  The  conclu¬ 
sion  which  he  drew  from  the  great  flow  of  the  Oronoco,  that  it 
must  be  the  outpouring  of  a  continent,  was  acute  and  striking. 
A  learned  Spanish  historian  has  also  ingeniously  excused  other 
parts  of  his  theory.  “He  suspected,”  observes  he,  “a  certain 
elevation  of  the  globe  at  one  part  of  the  equator ;  philosophers 
have  since  determined  the  world  to  be  a  spheroid,  slightly 
elevated  in  its  equatorial  circumference.  He  suspected  that 
the  diversity  of  temperatures  influenced  the  needle,  not  being 
able  to  penetrate  the  cause  of  its  inconstant  variations;  the 
successive  series  of  voyages  and  experiments  have  made  this 
inconstancy  more  manifest,  and  have  shown  that  extreme 
cold  sometimes  divests  the  needle  of  all  its  virtue.  Perhaps  new 
observations  may  justify  the  surmise  of  Columbus.  Even  his 
error  concerning  the  circle  described  by  the  polar  star,  which 
he  thought  augmented  by  an  optical  illusion  in  proportion  as 
the  observer  approached  the  equinox,  manifests  him  a  philoso¬ 
pher  superior  to  the  time  in  which  he  lived.”  * 


*  Mufioz,  Hist.  N.  Mundo,  lib.  vi.  §  38. 


\ 


A  \ 


DOES  NOT  CIRCULATE 


